Landlord Gordon Lau to beef up Bowery apartment building

169 Bowery and the former Collective Hardware store
169 Bowery and the former Collective Hardware store

Amid ongoing legal troubles, landlord Gordon Lau is moving forward with plans to convert and enlarge a five-story tenement building at 169 Bowery, between Delancey and Broome streets, in the Lower East Side.

The city Department of Buildings issued permits on Tuesday for the project, which would add 6,000 square feet for roughly $500,000. A “horizontal and vertical extension” would create two more floors to allow for 10 units. The apartment space would be expanded to nearly 15,000 square feet; there will also be 2,585 square feet in commercial space at the site.

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Lau evicted tenant Collective Hardware in 2010 for allegedly failing to pay about $1 million in back rent, Bowery Boogie reported. As of last year, Lau had been attempting to recoup $3.5 million in personal guarantees from the tenant. [Bowery Boogie]Mark Maurer