Workers finish demolition of the old retail spaces along 250 E. Houston St.; now what's next?

If you've walked by 250 E. Houston St. in recent days, then you likely noticed that workers have mostly finished removing the one-level strip of storefronts.

Demoliton started in mid-November ahead of a new mixed-used building for the property here between Avenue A and Avenue B. The demolition has been a challenge/nuisance to nearby residents — especially when jack-hammering starts at 7:30 a.m. on a holiday. There have also been dust complaints, per city records. 

Here's a look from late last week at the now-empty lot courtesy of EVG contributor Stacie Joy...

EVG reader Jim Knapp shared this photo below of the retail spaces at the start of the demolition. The businesses in these storefronts either relocated closer to the residential building at 250 E. Houston St. (Kapri Cleaners and the FedEx Office Print & Ship Center) or closed (Dunkin'/Baskin-Robbins, Subway, Mattress Firm and China Town).

Jim also shared a time-lapse of the building demolition, which you can find on YouTube. 

As for what's next, there's a filing with the DOB for a 6-story mixed-use residential building, as we reported on Jan. 3 ... (click on the image for more detail) ...

However, sources tell us that this was just a preliminary filing to allow for the demolition ... and that the plans for the building will actually be closer to the size/scope of the adjacent 13-floor residences at 250 E. Houston St., the former Red Square that opened in 1989. 

For now, not much will likely happen on the empty plots. 

Revisit this EVG post from 2016 for a photo of this property before Red Square arrived in the late 1980s.