Developer Samy Mahfar has withdrawn an application to rezone a stretch of East Houston Street, on the Lower East Side, which would have introduced a commercial overlay for the targeted area, allowing for commercial-retail space to be built at street level, the Lo-Down reported. That means Mahfar’s planned 13-story, 63-unit mixed-use project at 255 East Houston Street won’t have ground-floor retail space. Instead, the developer plans to move forward with an as-of-right project featuring leasable community facility space. It’s unclear if withdrawing from the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) changes the residential portion in any way. Twenty percent of the apartments (13 units) were set to be rented at below-market rates through the affordable housing lottery. Filings at the Buildings Department haven’t been amended since plans were first filed for a 10-story, 53-unit structure. The Stephen B. Jacobs Group is the architect. Demolition has commenced on the existing four-story building.