Permits Filed To Demolish Chelsea Building

CHELSEA, NY — A developer filed permits with the city last week to demolish a two-story building that has spanned a full block on Eighth Avenue between West 23rd and 24th streets for most of a century.

The permits, filed Thursday, call for the demolition of the building at 258-278 8th Ave., which currently houses a CVS Pharmacy — and until recently, a New York Sports Club gym and a Boston Market restaurant.

No permits for new construction have been filed yet, but renderings of a 12-story glass tower on the same block were reported this week by New York YIMBY. The renderings were shared by JJ Operating, the developer who purchased the building for $107 million in 2017, and who filed this week's demolition permits.

Constructed in 1932, the structure bears an inscription dubbing it the "John Q. Aymar Building."

Its namesake was a wealthy merchant whose family portrait belongs to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, according to a 2012 Curbed article. It likely bears Aymar's name because he owned the site before his descendants redeveloped it long after his death, Forgotten NY reported in 2013.