The Chetrit Group is going after another Manhattan address, this time with plans to take down a mixed-use, low-rise building at 9 East 36th Street in Midtown South. The five-story property, tucked between Fifth and Madison avenues near the Murray Hill edge of Midtown South, features ground-floor retail with apartments above. It is one more example of small sites turning over and narrow-lot blocks in central Manhattan quietly changing shape.
Report: Demolition Planned
The planned tear-down was first reported Wednesday by Crain's New York Business, which said the Chetrit Group intends to demolish the building at 9 East 36th Street. Public property records and listings identify the structure as a five-story, roughly 16-unit mixed-use building, details that show up in publicly available building profiles. Augrented notes that the property dates to the 1920s and still reads as a low-rise holdout in the Midtown South streetscape.
Chetrit’s Manhattan Moves
The Chetrit Organization has been busy in Manhattan, refinancing, restructuring and repositioning assets in a way that helps explain decisions at the parcel level. The Real Deal covered the firm's debt restructuring work late last year, and industry coverage has tracked Chetrit shifting other pieces on the board earlier this year. For instance, market reports said a Chetrit-owned Hudson Yards site traded in January, a move that highlights how owners are recycling smaller lots into larger plays; Bisnow reported on that transaction.
What A Tear-Down Entails
Before any demolition crew shows up on East 36th Street, the project would need Department of Buildings permits, site-safety paperwork, abatement plans and a stack of other city approvals. The DOB spells out permit and safety rules for demolition work and coordinates inspections along with protections such as sidewalk sheds and noise controls. DOB procedures also require notifications for neighboring properties and oversight of hazardous-materials abatement.
Neighborhood Impact
On a block lined with narrow storefronts and walk-ups, losing a five-story building would wipe out several rental apartments and a ground-floor retail spot that helps give the street its everyday personality. Across Manhattan, similar low-rise parcels have been replaced with taller, denser projects, a shift that can alter local retail lineups and reshape who is walking those sidewalks and when. Neighbors and community boards typically keep a close eye on DOB filings when a tear-down surfaces so they can flag concerns or push for conditions.
For now, the clearest public indication of Chetrit’s plans is the report in Crain's, and any formal demolition application, permit or replacement proposal will appear in DOB records and community board notices. We will be watching those public filings for developments tied to the 9 East 36th Street site.
