Ben Harlev’s Arava Group plans to build a 78-unit residential building at 167 Chrystie Street, a permit application filed with the New York City Department of Buildings on Tuesday shows.
The residential portion of the building would span 54,000 square feet while ground floor retail space would account for 5,000 square feet.
Harlev, a former Israel Defense Forces captain, acquired the property through a ground lease signed in December in the amount of $9.5 million. The developer secured an $8.5 million loan from Bank Leumi at the time. Securities and Exchange Commission records show that Harlev began raising $9.5 million for a commercial real estate fund in August of 2017 along with his mother Dafna Harlev and uncle Doron Aviv, the principals of of Israeli development firm Aviv Group. (Dafna Harlev and Doron Aviv are the son and daughter of developer Moshe Aviv.)
Architect Eran Chen‘s firm ODA will design the new, 16-story building, and has designed two other condo projects on the same street, according to Bowery Boogie.
New Beer Distributors, a specialty beer shop at 167 Chrystie Street, closed in March. The manager told Patch in March that they were going out of business due to increased rent, taxes and construction next-door at 165 Chrystie that had diverted foot traffic away from the storefront.
Harlev did not immediately respond to a request for comment.