We now know what Lower East Side developer Samy Mahfar has in mind for 255 East Houston St., the former Action for Progress Daycare building.
According to Buildings Department documents, he plans to build a 10-story residential project totaling more than 51,000 square feet with 53 apartments. About 4600 square feet will be set aside for a “community facility” and a rooftop terrace is planned. The architect of record is the Stephen B. Jacobs Group.
In 2010, the daycare center was evacuated after construction at a neighboring construction site destabilized the building. That other project, at 179 Suffolk St., is a also a 10-story tower, It’s nearing completion after being stalled for several years.
Mahfar, of course, is a controversial figure on the Lower East Side for his dealings with rent stabilized tenants in the tenements he owns across the neighborhood. He’s frequently a target of tenant activists and local elected officials.
