Showing posts with label Landmark Sunshine Theater. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Landmark Sunshine Theater. Show all posts

Thursday, November 15, 2018

The boutique office building replacing the Sunshine Cinema will be 'unbounded by walls' with an outdoor space called Houston Alley


[Photo of the Sunshine from the other evening]

The former Sunshine Cinema remains in place at 143 E. Houston St. awaiting demolition to make way for a 9-story boutique office complex with a retail component.

East End Capital and K Property Group, who bought the building for $31.5 million in the spring of 2017, have launched a website marketing the spaces. (City Reality first reported on the new website on Tuesday.)

Here's the building's "redefined vision" ...

From acclaimed architect Roger Ferris, the only new development of its type on the Lower East Side, 141 East Houston is a new frame for viewing the neighborhood. Column-free and unbounded by walls, it reinterprets the area through a bold geometric perimeter of cladding and glass. State-of-the-art workspaces and private terraces reframe expectations, while a well-connected location recasts perspectives.

With its glass frame and dynamic courtyard running the length of its eastern side, doubling as a second facade, 141 East Houston challenges the distinction between indoors and out.



The ground-floor space along Houston Street will include outdoor seating in "Houston Alley" ...



As City Realty noted, the new building, which is still awaiting for the city's approval, "couldn’t be further removed from the community or its surroundings."

The five-screen Sunshine Cinema here between Eldridge and Forsyth closed on Jan. 21 after a 17-year run.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Discarded theater seats and goodbyes at the Sunshine Cinema

The 9-story boutique office building coming to the former Sunshine Cinema space

A celebratory ad on the purchase of 139 E. Houston St., current home of the Sunshine Cinema

Monday, October 29, 2018

Friday, March 30, 2018

Permits filed for Sunshine Cinema-replacing boutique office building


[EVG file photo]

Reps for the developers of the newly branded 141 East Houston have filed the permits with the DOB for the new 9-story office building with retail space on the site of the former Sunshine Cinema.

As previously reported (via The New York Times), the new 68,000-square-foot building will be designed by Roger Ferris. Demolition of the current circa-1898 building is expected within the next two months ... with a completion date for the new glass box in late 2019...


[Via East End Capital]

East End Capital and K Property Group bought the building for $31.5 million last spring. Gregory Kraut, a managing partner at K Property Group, recently told the Commercial Observer that they are putting the building up on spec.

The five-screen Sunshine Cinema closed on Jan. 21 after 17 years in service.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Discarded theater seats and goodbyes at the Sunshine Cinema

The 9-story boutique office building coming to the former Sunshine Cinema space

A celebratory ad on the purchase of 139 E. Houston St., current home of the Sunshine Cinema

Thursday, March 22, 2018

The former Sunshine Cinema will be demolished in 2 months


[Photo from last month via @michaelkbusch]

The Commercial Observer has a Q&A with Gregory Kraut, a managing partner at K Property Group, the newish owners of 143 E. Houston St. — the former Sunshine Cinema.

Kraut offers a few details on why the property was of interest ... and when they plan on tearing down the structure built in 1898.

Here's part of the interview with a passage on the Sunshine:

Why did you want the Sunshine Cinema building?

Because we saw where retail is going. We saw what was happening on Orchard Street where they have Equinox, CVS and T.J. Maxx, and Whole Foods was on the other side so we’re right there. We’re like, Are you kidding? This is a great location. We’re putting up a spec 63,000-square-foot office building that’s going to be nine stories. Roger Ferris is our architect. He is awesome.

So no theater there.

No theater. Zero. We’re demolishing it in two months.

You don’t feel bad?

No, not at all. First of all they were trying for years to make money and they couldn’t. The area has changed, and quite frankly, the business model didn’t, and so we gave them options to renew. They had several opportunities to buy the building.

East End Capital and K Property Group bought the building for $31.5 million last spring. They filed demolition permits to take down the three-level structure here between Eldridge and Forsyth back in November.

The new building permits — a 9-story boutique office complex with a retail component — haven't been posted just yet at the DOB.

The five-screen Sunshine Cinema closed on Jan. 21 after a 17-year run.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Discarded theater seats and goodbyes at the Sunshine Cinema

The 9-story boutique office building coming to the former Sunshine Cinema space

A celebratory ad on the purchase of 139 E. Houston St., current home of the Sunshine Cinema

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Sunset at the Sunshine



This Sunset mural went up last evening on the gate of the former Sunshine Cinema on East Houston ... not sure at the moment who the artist is, and if the new owners of the property — who plan on putting in a 9-story boutique office building — commissioned the work.

The Sunshine closed on Jan. 21.

Thanks to @michaelkbusch for the photo earlier today!

Updated 9:30 p.m.

Faust is the artist. (H/T Mike H!)

Monday, January 29, 2018

Sunshine state



Several readers shared photos (ones from JG are in this post) from Saturday showing some more interior demolition of the former Sunshine Cinema at 143 E. Houston St. ...



There were two dumpsters as well as a semi-trailer parked out front... (the pile of dumpsterized theater seats were apparently a hit with the kids, as seen in this video clip) ...



Workers likely can't gut too much of the five-screen theater, which closed on Jan. 21, just yet. The new owners — East End Capital and K Property Group — are hosting an event here on Feb. 15 to preview their planned 9-story office building for the property. Or, as Jeremiah Moss put it, "a developer victory dance party."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Discarded theater seats and goodbyes at the Sunshine Cinema

The 9-story boutique office building coming to the former Sunshine Cinema space


[Photo outside the Sunshine on Jan. 22 by EVG reader Karen]

Monday, January 22, 2018

Discarded theater seats and goodbyes at the Sunshine Cinema



There was a lone dumpster outside the just-closed Sunshine Cinema late this afternoon... workers have started discarding some theater seats...



A little later, EVG reader Karen spotted a now-former Sunshine employer putting up "There Goes the Neighborhood" on the marquee...



The message was later changed to Closed...



Workers will demolish the building here on East Houston near Forsyth to make way for a 9-floor office building.

Post updated at 7:30 p.m.

The 9-story boutique office building coming to the former Sunshine Cinema space



As you likely know, the Sunshine Cinema shut down last night ... after the 10:15 screening of "Darkest Hour."

Per previous reports, the new owners — East End Capital and K Property Group — of the building here on East Houston between Eldridge and Forsyth are planning to re-develop the property into a mixed-use retail and office project.

And in a piece on the theater's closing, the Times got the scoop on that new development...


[Via The New York Times]

Per the Times:

The Sunshine will be demolished and turned into a nine-story “boutique” office building for small to midsize companies, said Jonathon Yormak, the founder and managing principal of East End Capital.

“We’re big fans of the Lower East Side,” Mr. Yormak said. “It really needs more 9-to-5 activity and it tends to be very active, obviously, on a night life basis. We believe there is a real demand for office space and for people to work there during the day.”

The new 65,000-square-foot building will be designed by Roger Ferris and feature retail space on the ground floor. Demolition will begin by March and the new building, which is being branded as 141 E. Houston Street, will be completed in late 2019, Mr. Yormak said.

The new building permits haven't been posted just yet at the DOB.

The Sunshine Cinema opened in December 2001.

Built in 1898, the Sunshine Cinema building was formerly the Houston Hippodrome motion picture theatre and a Yiddish vaudeville house.

Friday, January 19, 2018

The Sunshine Cinema shuts down after Sunday



As you've likely heard by now, the Landmark Sunshine Cinema on East Houston closes after its slate of screenings on Sunday.

News emerged last spring that East End Capital and K Property Group bought the building for $31.5 million with plans to convert it to a mixed-use development with retail and upstairs office space. The site includes 20,000 square feet of air rights.

In November, the new owners of the building filed demolition permits to take down the three-level structure here between Eldridge and Forsyth.

As for the last weekend of films, there's nothing special planned, per Deadline Hollywood, who first reported on the closure on Jan. 9.

Per Ted Mundorff, CEO of Landmark Theatres: "There's nothing to celebrate."

There are five films playing to close out the weekend, holdovers from recent weeks: "Hostiles," "Darkest Hour," "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri," "In Between" and "The Room." (No Tommy Wiseau in person, though.)



At midnight, there are screenings of "Dog Day Afternoon" and "Super Fly."

Landmark will continue the midnight-movie tradition at their new West 57th Street location, which includes a cafe with a liquor license...


Landmark reportedly had the opportunity to buy the property, but decided against it after CB3 voted down a proposal for a full liquor license for a cafe in the theater in 2012 for pre- and post-movie drinks and dinner. As The Lo-Down reported at the time, "residents in attendance ... expressed serious concerns about the application in an area already teeming with nightlife activity."

Built in 1898, the Sunshine Cinema building was formerly the Houston Hippodrome motion picture theatre and a Yiddish vaudeville house. After sitting abandoned for many years, the building was renovated ... with the Sunshine opening on Dec. 21, 2001.


As for the future, East End's website states:

East End is planning to re-develop the building into a mixed-use retail and office project. While pursuing tenants interested in utilizing the structure in its current form, work is also underway for a new, best-in-class office building with retail at the base – a first in the rapidly evolving Lower East Side. 139 East Houston will offer cutting-edge design from Roger Ferris Architecture, huge windows with expansive views, high ceilings and column-free efficient space – all on top of a subway stop in a unique and exciting location. Ground breaking is expected in the second quarter of 2018.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A celebratory ad on the purchase of 139 E. Houston St., current home of the Sunshine Cinema

Friday, November 10, 2017

The end is nearing for the Sunshine Cinema


[EVG photo from August]

It's getting closer for the end credits to roll at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema on East Houston.

As The Lo-Down first reported yesterday, the new owners of the building housing the theater have filed demolition permits to take down the three-level structure here between Eldridge and Forsyth.

Back in May, the Post reported that East End Capital and K Property Group bought the building for $31.5 million with plans to convert it to a mixed-use development with retail and upstairs office space. The site includes 20,000 square feet of air rights.

First sign of the impending new development came in August when workers were taking soil samples...


[EVG photo from Aug. 10]

Landmark reportedly had the opportunity to buy the property, but decided against it after CB3 voted down a proposal for a full liquor license for a cafe in the theater in 2012 for pre- and post-movie drinks and dinner.

Landmark instead decided to invest in a state-of-the-art theater (with an adjoining bar-cafe) that recently opened on West 57th Street.

The Sunshine is expected to close in early 2018. No date has been set. As of now, the Sunshine website lists midnight movies scheduled through Jan. 27 with a possible grand finale of "Dog Day Afternoon."

And a little history of the theater/building, via its website:

Opened December 21, 2001. Built in 1898, the Sunshine Cinema building was formerly the Houston Hippodrome motion picture theatre and a Yiddish vaudeville house but for over 50 years it had been shuttered serving as a hardware warehouse. Landmark has restored the theatre back to its artistic roots and now offers the art-house film lover five state-of-the-art screens dedicated to first-run independent and foreign film as well as non-traditional studio programming...

Given the numerous alterations through the years, the building was never deemed landmark-worthy by the city.

Anyway, I've been taking a few photos each time that I visited the theater in recent months, such as when I was the only person in the auditorium for a screening of "Wetlands" in September...













... and one day maybe...


[East End Capital]

The East End Capital website states that "ground breaking is expected in the second quarter of 2018."

For what?

While pursuing tenants interested in utilizing the structure in its current form, work is also underway for a new, best-in-class office building with retail at the base – a first in the rapidly evolving Lower East Side.

Thursday, May 25, 2017

A celebratory ad on the purchase of 139 E. Houston St., current home of the Sunshine Cinema



News broke last week that developers East End Capital and K Property Group bought 139 E. Houston St. for $31.5 million. As the Post reported, the current tenant here, the Landmark Sunshine Cinema, will close when its lease expires in January 2018.

On Tuesday, the involved parties took out a full-page ad in the Post (thanks to Blue Glass for the photos)...







The partners say they look forward to a "transformative retail future." Given the negative reaction to news of the Sunshine's demise, some local residents likely won't be offering their congratulations.

Patch had an update last evening on the building's future:

Greg Kraut, a managing partner at K Property Group, did not confirm to Patch rumors of the theater's imminent closure, but noted that the cinema's lease would expire in 2018, and that the developers would look to fulfill "whatever the community thinks" the space should be used for.

And Landmark's position?

"We have been notified that the building was sold and we certainly hope to operate for as long as the new owners go through the permitting process with the city," a spokeswoman for the Landmark Theatres company said in a statement.

The Sunshine opened here between Forsyth and Eldridge in 2001.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Sunshine Cinema on East Houston to close in January

Friday, May 19, 2017

Report: Sunshine Cinema on East Houston to close in January


[EVG photo from December]

After months of speculation, the Post confirmed that the Sunshine Cinema on East Houston between Eldridge and Forsyth will close in January when its lease expires.

The 30,000-square-foot building at 139 E. Houston St. has been sold for $31.5 million to developers East End Capital and K Property Group, which will convert it to a mixed-use development with retail and upstairs office space. The site includes 20,000 square feet of air rights.

There has been speculation about the long-term health of the six-screen theater since it arrived on the market in May 2015.

Perhaps Community Board 3 set in motion this loss. Per the Post:

Landmark had a right of first refusal to buy the building and wanted to serve dinner with its flicks, but that idea was flushed after a full liquor license was rejected in 2012 by the community board.

CB3 would only approve a license for beer and wine. Here's coverage of that 2012 CB3 meeting via The Lo-Down:

Residents in attendance at last night’s meeting expressed serious concerns about the application in an area already teeming with nightlife activity. While most everyone treasures the Sunshine as a community resource, they said the idea of licensing a 700-person venue is more than a little scary. Both the Eldridge Street and East 1st Street block associations would prefer a wine-and-beer-only permit. Lori Greenberg, an Eldridge Street resident, asked what would happen if the Sunshine is sold to a new owner operating a mainstream theater showing action films and other blockbusters?

Given the air rights available here, the speculation is that the property will be developed into more luxury housing. Upon hearing the news, one EVG reader told me, "I find it hard to believe this will not become a huge apartment complex. I can't think of any large retail store that would thrive in this area."

Bill Thompson, senior vice president of theatrical sales at international arthouse distributor Cohen Media Group (who just reopened the Quad Cinema on 13th Street) told IndieWire last December: "I think everyone is expecting that the building itself is going to end up becoming a high rise."

I like the Sunshine Cinema and will be sorry to see it go. Of late, though, I've been going there less and less with the arrival of the Metrograph down on Ludlow and the recent reopening of the Quad Cinema on 13th Street... not to mention the standbys like the Anthology Film Archives on Second Street and Second Avenue plus, a little further away, the Film Forum and the IFC Center. And I always enjoy seeing movies at the Village East Cinema on Second Avenue at 12th Street. (Added: And the Angelika Film Center and Cinema Village.)

As for the Sunshine, it opened in 2001 after Landmark spent $12 million gut renovating the building that dates to 1898 (and 1838 by some estimates).

Here's Cinema Treasures with more history:

The entertainment beginnings of this building came in 1909 when it opened as the Houston Hippodrome, a venue for Yiddish vaudeville acts and films.

In 1917, the theatre’s ownership changed and the 600-seat venue was renamed the Sunshine Theatre. In the late-1930’s it was renamed Chopin Theatre. The theatre closed in 1945 and had been used as a storage warehouse into the mid-1990s.

The building was never landmarked.

Friday, December 9, 2016

Concern for the Sunshine Cinema


[EVG photo from last night]

There has been speculation about the long-term health of Landmark's Sunshine Cinema on East Houston Street since news broke in May 2015 that the building housing the six-screen theater was for sale. (Asking price: $35 million.)

IndieWire checks in on the theater's status ...

Though a number of media outlets have reported that the Sunshine’s lease will be up for renegotiation at the end of 2018, the existential threat facing the theater has less to do with its lease than the possibility that a new buyer will demolish the building and replace it with a towering apartment complex. Built in 1898, the property has a reported price tag of more than $35 million.

Ted Mundorff, president and CEO of Landmark Theaters, told IndieWire that turning the theater into a high rise is easier said than done. “It would take years for anyone who’s going to pay the kind of money they’re looking for to demolish [the building] and construct something,” he said. “At this point I don’t see any imminent danger of us leaving the property.”

Other thoughts...

Bill Thompson, senior vice president of theatrical sales at international arthouse distributor Cohen Media Group, said that despite the fact that the Sunshine’s building has failed to lure a buyer, the chances of the theater sticking around for long are slim. “I think everyone is expecting that the building itself is going to end up becoming a high rise,” he said.

By the way, Cohen Media Group is behind the revamp of the Quad Cinema on 13th Street. That theater, being branded as “the New York City home of classic, foreign, art-house and independent films,” is now expected to return in the spring, per IndieWire.

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

[Updated] Now playing at the Sunshine: flooding


In case you had plans on seeing a movie (maybe the Charlie Kauffman retrospective) at the Sunshine Cinema on East Houston, you are out of luck at the moment.

The Sunshine tweeted out earlier this afternoon that they are "temporarily closed."

The Lo-Down heard from management that the theater closed due to flooding. They hope to return to cinematic action tonight... or tomorrow morning. Watch their Twitter account for updates.

Updated 1 p.m.

Back open!



Friday, May 8, 2015

Report: The Sunshine Cinema being shopped as a development site


[Image via Facebook]

The Real Deal has the scoop this morning that the theater on East Houston between Eldridge and Forsythe has quietly been put on the market. Per The Real Deal:

For more than a decade, art-house movie buffs and devotees of late-night cult flicks have lined up outside the theater’s home at 139-143 East Houston Street. The property is now being quietly marketed to developers with an asking price north of $35 million, according to sources.

And...

The cinema has a triple-net lease that runs through 2018, for which it pays an annual rent of about $200,000.

To help offset expenses, ownership sought a full liquor license in 2012. However, CB3 wasn't having it, and would only approve a license for beer and wine.

Read more about the liquor license application in 2012 at The Lo-Down.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Friday, December 10, 2010

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Speaking of landmarks and chicken fat, Cindy Adams thinks East Houston has a problem


From her column in the Post yesterday:

NOW, Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber's glamorous glorious gorgeous premiere of "Defiance" at the Landmark Sunshine Theater. Landmarked? The thing should be condemned. Sunshine? Their VIP reception room is a windowless, airless basement. But maybe it's the location that counts. East Houston Street just a vat of chicken fat from Yonah Schimmel's knishery.