Five buildings on the Upper East Side, containing more than 50 apartments and three former restaurants, are slated for the wrecking ball, records show.
Shlomi Avdoo, founder and CEO of Midtown-based Avdoo & Partners Development, has plans to knock down the quintet of mixed-use buildings, all 5 stories tall, at 1341-1347 Second Ave. and 242 E. 71st St., according to permits filed with the Department of Buildings last week.
The four adjacent properties on Second Avenue, between East 70th and East 71st streets, were formerly occupied by a convenience store and three restaurants: the Italian eatery Il Divo, Afghan Kebab House and the French bistro Jean Claude II, which moved this past fall to a new location at 1076 First Ave. because of what the owner said at the time was the imminent possibility of demolition.
Avdoo did not respond to a request for comment, and it’s unclear what his plans are for the site beyond its destruction, but it’s likely that he is or will be the new owner. A listing for all five properties from broker Bob Knakal’s newly launched firm BK Real Estate Advisors says the development site, with 100,417 square feet of buildable space, is under contract. The purchase price is not yet known, but the properties were being marketed for $55 million.
Knakal’s firm is the exclusive agent for the seller, which records show is Isaac Ohebshalom’s Midtown-based firm Gatsby Enterprises. Knakal declined to comment.
Ohebshalom, who bought the buildings in 2008 for $27.5 million, records show, had filed his own plans years ago to redevelop the site with a 21-story building, but those never came to fruition. Ohebshalom did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
