For the last couple of weeks, there have been inklings that the Jarmulowsky Bank building was about to be sold and redeveloped as a boutique hotel. Just last week, Lower East Side BID president Mark Miller suggested as much in his 2012 predictions. Today Roland Li reports in the International Business Times that the building, 54 Canal Street, has in fact sold for $36 million and is “poised to become a hotel.”
New York-based Equity Management sold the landmarked Jarmulowsky to DLJ Real Estate Partners, once a division of Credit Suisse. Li reported, “Officials for DLJ weren’t immediately available to comment, but sources said it is likely they will convert the building into a hotel.”
Equity Management bought the building for $25 million in 2005. The Jarmulowsky, generally thought of as the most interesting historic landmark on the Lower East Side after the Forward Building, has been on and off the market for several years. Developers have envisioned a 130 room hotel (with ground floor retail).
It’s our understanding that the new owners are working with a well-known architect with experience restoring landmarked buildings in Lower Manhattan. More to come…
Just wait until all the nit-wits who are waiting for death-buses start using their lobby for loitering and free bathroom use.