BLDG wants to tear down Coliseum theater, build retail center

Lloyd Goldman’s BLDG Management could soon replace the historic Coliseum movie theater in Washington Heights with a 70,000-square-foot shopping center.

The Coliseum, at 701 West 181st Street, was Manhattan’s oldest operating movie theater until it closed in 2011, having once featured acts like the Marx Brothers and W.C. Fields.

But the property owner, BLDG Management, could be planning a redevelopment of the site, which currently features a supermarket and two smaller retail stores, according to DNAinfo. A listing with Zelnick & Company Real Estate for the property includes a rendering of a new four-story building featuring retail space and a parking garage.

Local residents formed a “Save the Coliseum” movement in 2011 with the goal of keeping the site as a movie theater or turning it into a multi-use arts space. The campaign fell short when the group failed to engage BLDG Management in discussions regarding the property.

The landlord recently secured $251 million in financing for a planned 41-story rental tower at 222 East 44th Street in Midtown. BLDG is also involved in a lawsuit with a 93-year-old rent-stabilized tenant involving hidden cameras and charges of grand larceny. [DNAinfo] – Rey Mashayekhi