Sunshine Cinema To Be Demolished In Two Months, New Owner Says

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — One of the developers who bought the historic Sunshine Cinema on the Lower East Side and plans to demolish it says he doesn't feel "at all" bad about destorying a building that was first constructed in the neighborhood in 1898.

Gregory Kraut, a managing partner at K Property Group, said in an interview with the Commercial Observer that the historic cinema, located at 143 E. Houston St., would be razed in two months. The K Property Group and East End Capital bought the building last year for $31.5 million, and have announced plans to turn the beloved neighborhood cinema into a glass office building with shops on the ground level.

Kraut told the Commercial Observer that he wanted the building because "we saw where retail is going."

"We saw what was happening on Orchard Street where they have Equinox, CVS and T.J. Maxx, and Whole Foods was on the other side so we’re right there," he said in the interview. "We’re like, Are you kidding? This is a great location. We’re putting up a spec 63,000-square-foot office building that’s going to be nine stories. Roger Ferris is our architect. He is awesome."

Plans for the new building do not include a theater. The building will stand nine stories tall. Kruat told the Commercial Observer that he didn't feel bad for demolishing the neighborhood staple because the cinema was "trying for years to make money and they couldn’t."

"The area has changed, and quite frankly, the business model didn’t, and so we gave them options to renew. They had several opportunities to buy the building," Kraut told the publication.

Executives with Landmark, the company that owned Sunshine Cinema, said the company couldn't afford market rent in the area.

You can read the full interview with the Commercial Observer here.

Image credit: Ciara McCarthy / Patch