“It is irreparable,” Sorrell said.
Dick Davis, managing partner in Student Suites Inc., declined to discuss the stop-work order, directing questions to the city.
“We’re still trying to work out why we were asked to stop,” Davis said.
Sorrell said he didn’t know if demolition contractor Steve R. Rauch Inc. was aware that that portion was not to be demolished. Rauch could not be reached for comment.
An $18 million to $20 million 200-unit student housing project is to be constructed on the site by Missouri-based Student Suites Inc. in partnership with nonprofit United Housing and Community Services Corporation of California. The city pledged up to $1 million for demolition and other costs associated with the former Schwind building next door to the former Daily News building.
Daily News owner Cox Enterprises contributed $1 million for environmental remediation and demolition of the newspaper building.
Sorrell said there had been questions about the economic feasibility of retaining the 1922 portion, but the developer was required to make a case to the Landmarks Commission for permission to tear it down and had not done so.
The financial penalty for violating the city’s rule is small — probably about $500, said Sorrell — but the company will be expected to cover the cost of mitigating the loss.
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