Papaya King's UES Site To Get Luxury 17-Story Tower

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — An iconic city standby that stood on the corner of East 86th Street since 1932 soon will be the home of a luxury residential tower.

Plans for the languishing former home of Papaya King at 171 East 86 St., at the corner of Third Avenue, were officially revealed Friday and show a developer aims to bring a spacious tower to the former hot dog stand.

Developer ZD Jasper Reality wants to build an as-of-right 17-story tower on the corner site it purchased years ago, according to the filed permits.

The 210-foot-tall building will have a footprint of 5,000 square feet and will contain just 25 apartments, the plans show.

With more than 57,000 square feet of residential space, that means each unit will be able to fit nearly 2,300 foot-long hotdogs neatly arranged on their apartment floors.

No amenities are listed on the permit, and the new construction will not include any new automobile parking — but it does mark a cellar and sub-cellar space as suitable for apartments.

Roughly 2,300-square-feet of space will be devoted to retail, split between a ground floor level and a basement, the permit states.

The tower appears to not require any zoning changes to be built.

Papaya King was forced to abdicate its iconic home of roughly 90 years by "Billionaires Row" mega-developer, Extell.

In November 2021, Extell first purchased the site for $21 million and filed demolition permits first reported by Patch to knock down the remaining structures in June 2022, spelling the end of the iconic Papaya King home.

The full development parcel includes the entire one-story commercial strip on the northwest corner of Third Avenue and East 86th Street.

Besides Papaya King on the corner, it was also formerly home to a Cohen's Fashion Optical, The Children's Place clothing store, and Wrap & Roll Grill.

Back in November, Extell offloaded the whole site to the Long Island-based developer for $24.5 million.

According to city records, the 2022 demolition permit is still on file, but no updated permit has been filed since.

Papaya King has face a tumultuous series of evictions and lawsuits over the past few years over back rent, evictions and a dispute over the sale and licensing of the shop and brand.

Founded by Gus Poulos in 1932, Papaya King was owned and operated by the Poulos family for 68 years.

Papaya King became an icon of the Upper East Side, spawned imitations like Gray's Papaya on the Upper West Side, and expanded to the East Village, Brooklyn and even Las Vegas — though all of those outposts have since closed.

Current operator Grab & Go Convenience announced a move in April to a new location on corner of East 87th Street and Third Avenue, at 1535 Third Ave., just 300 feet up the street from the original location, after a formal eviction notice was filed and a court case with the landlord began to wind down.

Representatives repeatedly told reporters that the return of Papaya King was imminent, but despite moving equipment and signage into the space, the doors never opened.

Instead, an eviction notice was plastered on the door back in October.

Grab & Go was later sued by landlords of the new Third Avenue site in November for over $4 million, including nearly $400,000 owed in unpaid rent.

Court records show that the suit was settled at the beginning of the year.