Stop Work Order Issued on Site of Planned 950-Foot Upper East Side Tower

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A wrench has been thrown in a developer's plan to build a 950-foot luxury apartment building on the Upper East Side.

The Department of Buildings (DOB) issued an order to stop work on the demolition of three existing 5-story buildings at 428, 430 and 432 East 58th Street because safety measures have not been put in place to protect tenants living in the adjacent 426 East 58th Street, according to DOB files.

The stop work order was issued following an audit request from City Councilman Ben Kallos, the Wall Street Journal reported. Kallos told the Journal that the developers had requested an application to stabilize 426 East 58th Street in order to complete demolition on the adjacent three-buildings.

The three-building site is owned by developer Joseph Beninati's Bauhouse Group. In February Beninati filed for bankruptcy to prevent lenders from foreclosing on the site, for which he planned a 113-unit, 950-foot condo development, Crain's reported. Due to the dispute between Beninati and his lenders a judge ruled last week the site must be auctioned off, and its value may be diminished by the stop work order, the Journal reported.

The proposed 950-tower and other supertall developments have prompted Kallos to start a petition to "stop super-scrapers" and preserve the Upper East Side's neighborhood character. The petition has garnered nearly 400 signatures.

Photo of building site in 2014 via Google Maps street view