New condo building to rise from LES lot

53 Hester Street
53 Hester Street

Since 2007, when century-old Gertel’s Bakery was demolished, 53 Hester Street on the Lower East Side has been an eyesore. But now, a new condominium building could rise from the rubble, the Lo-Down reported.

City land and court records reveal that the developer of a neighboring condo building at 55 Hester Street paid $3.2 million for the narrow lot in January. The purchaser — an entity called Hester Alliance Properties LLC that is led by Chen Wu and registered at 12 Monroe Street — has filed papers with the city’s building and zoning departments requesting permission to combine the two properties into one zoning lot.

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The filings currently call for a new 23-foot-wide, 10-story building at 53 Hester. The Wu team behind the 11-story 55 Hester also developed a seven-story residential building at 2 Allen Street.

The previous owner of 53 Hester, J.P. Hester, went through a lengthy foreclosure process, after falling behind on mortgage payments and being slapped with violation notices and fines after failing to heed a stop work order. [Lo-Down] —Christopher Cameron