Midtown

685 Fifth Avenue

New Developer to Construct Five-Story Office Expansion Atop 20-Story Commercial Building at 685 Fifth Avenue, Midtown

Earlier this week, YIMBY reported on applications to expand, by five stories, the 20-story, 115,000-square-foot multi-use commercial building at 685 Fifth Avenue, located on the corner of East 54th Street in Midtown. It was previously reported that Michael Shvo was in contract to acquire, from property owners General Growth Properties and Thor Equities, 90,000 square feet of office space (the entire office portion). That deal has since fallen through, and now, Gulaylar Group is in contract for the office space, according to The Real Deal. As part of the deal, the new owner will also develop the five-story office expansion. The sale is expected to close later this year. The lower portion of the building is currently undergoing a retail redevelopment. Its 23,400 square feet was leased to Coach in February and will become the retailer’s flagship store.


263 West 34th Street

Four-Story, 28,000-Square-Foot Retail Building Filed at 257-263 West 34th Street, Garment District

In January, news broke that Cornell Realty Management was planning a four-story, 35,000-square-foot retail building at 257-263 West 34th Street, in the Garment District section of Midtown. Now, the developer has filed applications for the project with the Department of Buildings. The structure will actually measure 28,130 square feet above grade and will feature retail space on the cellar through the fourth floors. The fourth floor will also features an upper mezzanine level that that will be utilized as retail space. Michael Even’s NoMad-based ME Architect is the architect of record. The 44-foot-wide assemblage is currently occupied by three unrecognizably altered four-story commercial buildings. Demolition permits were filed in March to knock them down.


550 Madison Avenue

Developer Abandons Plans for Hotel-Condo Conversion of 37-Story Sony Tower, Midtown

Last month, the Chetrit Group began converting the 37-story, 855,000-square-foot Sony Tower – the office building at 550 Madison Avenue, between East 55th and 56th streets, in Midtown – into 113 condominiums, a 170-key hotel, and 25,451 square feet of retail space. Now, Olayan America (the U.S. branch of Saudi Arabia-based Olayan Group), with minority investor Chelsfield, is in contract to acquire the tower for more than $1.3 billion, according to The Real Deal, officially stopping the project in its tracks. The new owners will not follow through with the conversion and will lease the building as office space. Chetrit is selling the building, most likely because of the cooling ultra-luxury residential market, for at least $200 million more than what they payed for it in 2013. The soon-to-be new owners have secured $300 million in mezzanine debt and a $600 million mortgage for the acquisition. The sale is expected to close in May.


685 Fifth Avenue

Redesigned Retail Space, Five-Story Office Expansion for 20-Story Commercial Building at 685 Fifth Avenue, Midtown

General Growth Properties and Thor Equities have filed to expand, by five stories, the 20-story, 115,000-square-foot multi-use commercial building at 685 Fifth Avenue, located on the corner of East 54th Street, in Midtown. The property’s commercial square footage – 109,543 square feet – will remain the same, because a portion of the space on the lower levels will be utilized to build the vertical expansion. As a result, the structure will see an increase in height from 227 feet to 292 feet. Coach has already secured a lease to take 23,400 square feet of retail space on the first few floors for its new flagship store, The Real Deal reports. Midtown South-based Marin Architects is the architect of record. In June of 2014, GGP and Thor acquired the building for $460 million, and it was reported last November that Michael Shvo is in contract to acquire the building’s existing 90,000 square feet of office space for north of $100 million. It doesn’t appear the future office space on floors 21 through 25 was part of the deal with Shvo.


989 Sixth Avenue

Development Team Planning 80-Story Mixed-Use Tower Closer To 2020 At 989-993 Sixth Avenue, Midtown

Back in December of 2015, it was reported that AB & Sons and Sioni Group were in contract to acquire 235,000 square feet of air rights (from the landmarked Haier Building) for their development assemblage at 989-993 Sixth Avenue, located on the corner of West 37th Street, in the Garment District section of Midtown. They have since closed on the purchase for an undisclosed amount, and now, the development team is planning a roughly 80-story mixed-use building, which could likely include retail space near the street level, a hotel, and residential units, according to The Real Deal. The site could boast up to 375,000 square feet of as-of-right development potential if the 21-story, 90,000-square-foot office building at 989-991 Sixth is demolished. The building reportedly won’t be demolished until at least 2019, probably due to existing leases. The corner lot at 993 Sixth Avenue is occupied by a partially built 18-story hotel project, which will also probably be demolished (it’s five stories in height).


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