The real estate firm that brought Shepard Fairey to the heights of Bowery in 2014 (“The future is ours”) is going big again. Caspi Development just commissioned street artist FAUST to add a touch of cursive to another of its properties. Just a block to the south.

Last Friday, in his signature script, FAUST scrawled the place-name “Bowery” onto the southern exposure of the controversial 135 Bowery. The sanctioned vandalism – orchestrated by the Little Italy Street Art Project – was about the only action happening at this address in months. In fact, pretty much since the building was completed years ago. Save for that Nike pop-up over Thanksgiving.

For Faust, however, it was the second commissioned piece within a week. The tagger also put his name on the Elizabeth Street facade of Rag & Bone.

135 Bowery was previously home to a wood-framed, Federal-style row house dating to 1818. Unfortunately, the structure was leveled in 2011, leading to the construction of the seven-story office building now on the block. Caspi Development acquired the commercial rebuilt property for $16.2 million last October. The Westchester-based firm is betting big that this nook of the Bowery becomes a high-tech sibling of Astor Place (stop calling it Midtown South). Caspi owns 161 Bowery up the block, converted into luxury offices for start-up tenants like Kik Interactive.

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