Toll Brothers plans to erect a 21-story residential condominium tower with 77 units on the mid-block site of the Variety Arts Theater at 110 Third Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets.

David van Spreckelsen, the director of acquisition and marketing for the New York City office of Toll Brothers, told CityRealty.com today that the project would be "as-of-right," that is, built within existing building and zoning regulations.

In addition to the theater's site, the development also includes 108 Third Avenue, now occupied by a four-story building.

Greenberg Farrow is the architect for the new building.

Toll Brothers, one of the nation's largest developers of luxury homes, is based in Horsham, Pennsylvania.

The Variety Arts Theater opened prior to World War I as a nickelodeon and its three-story, red-brick building was renovated in 1930 and again in 1991. It had 498 seats and was used for many Off-Broadway productions such as "Return to the Forbidden Planet" in 1991, "Annie Warbucks" in 1993, "Death Defying Acts" in 1995, "Zombie Prom" in 1996, "June Moon" in 1998, "Dinner with Friends" in 1999, "Reefer Madness" in 2001, "Endpapers" in 2002, "Ominium Gatherium" in 2003 and "The Joys of Sex" in 2004. The theater closed in October, 2004.

The theater had a large marquee and was around the corner from the very large Academy of Music theater that was converted to the Palladium disco and it was also around the corner from Julian's Billiards. In recent years, New York University has erected several large dormitory buildings nearby including one on the Palladium site and another on the former site of Luchow's, the famous German restaurant that was a few doors west of the Palladium site on 14th Street.