Gary Barnett’s Extell Development is moving forward with an unknown project on the corner of Fifth Avenue and West 46th Street, in Midtown’s Diamond District. Curbed NY reports the developer recently filed demolition permits for six five-story commercial buildings spanning 3-13 West 46th Street. The row of buildings are currently masked with black netting, which means demolition should begin soon.
On Fifth Avenue, Extell recently purchased from SL Green the seven-story building at 564-568 Fifth Avenue for an undisclosed amount. Also with SL Green, the group is now ground leasing the 13-story commercial building at 562 Fifth through 2064. The developer can purchase the land outright for $100 million after the lease. Those buildings have already been vacated, received sidewalk shedding, and are expected to be demolished.
Moving northward, Extell acquired the seven- and six-story commercial buildings at 570 Fifth Avenue and 574 Fifth Avenue for $125.4 million in September. The two buildings were filed for demolition in 2014 and are currently shrouded in netting, which means their demise is imminent.
The developer also acquired the 12-story commercial building at 2 West 47th Street for $56.46 million in 2014. Next door, the 14-story office building at 10 West 47th Street was purchased for $74.4 million last summer. These larger buildings currently do not have demolition permits, although their occupants appear to have been removed.
Barnett currently does not own the five-story commercial building at 572 Fifth Avenue or the 11-story office building at 576 Fifth Avenue, located on the corner of West 47th Street. It’s only a matter of time before he makes a move on 572 Fifth, although the larger property is likely to remain. Last year, Real Estate Equities purchased the leasehold on it for an undisclosed amount.
The assemblage could accommodate a significant mixed-use or office building, and a large chunk of the mixed-use option could have residential units. If the entire assemblage is demolished, the developer will have at least 615,000 square feet of development rights (plus 37,500 square feet if 572 Fifth is acquired). Besides adding other properties to the assemblage, additional air rights could be transferred from other buildings within the block, including any leftover square footage from Extell’s own 34-story International Gem Tower. And if a public plaza is included, the site’s allowable FAR could be increased by 20 percent.
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The charming low-rise and eccentric buildings, like the half-timbered pseudo Tudor building visible here, are the ones that make NYC so interesting. If Fifth Avenue eventually starts looking like Sixth Avenue, the tourists and shoppers will stay away in droves.
What is the history of that Tudor style building? I have always wondered about it. Was the design related to its first tenant, maybe an English or German restaurant?
This was once a fashionable English men’s clothing store and will likely be replaced with a cheap glass box…
http://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2012/11/finchleys-castle-nos-564-568-5th-avenue.html