What is Gary Barnett up to now?
Extell Development bought an office building on East 56th Street about two blocks over from the massive development project he’s stitching together on Park Avenue, The Real Deal has learned.
Plans for the site weren’t immediately clear, but it could be the latest move in Barnett’s mysterious multi-block assemblage that’s captured everyone’s attention.
Extell paid $39 million to buy the American Jewish Committee building at 165 East 56th Street. The AJC, which has long occupied the 60,000-square-foot building as its headquarters, is planning to relocate and marketed the property as a candidate for a residential conversion.
The eight-story building is on the corner of Third Avenue. And since it’s two blocks away from Barnett’s big Park Avenue site, it doesn’t seem as though any potential air rights could be transferred.
It’s possible Extell could have bought the building as a destination to relocate tenants. Barnett is said to be looking to buy a building at 111 East 54th Street, home to the private club The Brook.
Observers had speculated that the developer wanted to buy that building and relocate The Brook to the former Friars Club building at 57 East 55th Street, which Extell recently bought for $19 million.
But a longtime doorman at The Brook told TRD earlier this month that the club is not going anywhere and the building is not for sale.
Representatives for Extell and the American Jewish Committee did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A CBRE team led by Dan Kaplan and Doug Middleton arranged the sale.
Extell earlier this month paid $500 million to buy the development site at 405-417 Park Avenue. The company also bought air rights from the Central Synagogue for $20 million and may be looking at even more properties to grow the site.
The project has about 527,000 square feet of development as-of-right, which can grow up to 700,000 square feet of rentable office space with more air rights.
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Gary Barnett in contract to buy major Midtown assemblage
