Now has 300,000 square feet of development rights at site: source
February 11, 2014 12:37PM
By Adam Pincus
Victor Elmaleh and 143-155 East 60th Street (Photo credit: Google)
The development firm World-Wide Group paid $37 million for an 11-story commercial building at 155 East 60th Street across the street from Bloomingdale’s flagship store in Lenox Hill.
The purchase from Bloomingdale’s gives World-Wide a total of about 300,000 square feet of development rights along East 60th Street, between Lexington and Third avenues, a source close to the deal said.
The firm had previously acquired 143 (home to the famous dive bar, Subway Inn), 145-147, 149, 151 and 153 East 60th Street. With the new purchase, the firm now owns 200 feet of frontage along East 60th Street. It does not own the 20-foot wide corner building, 767 Lexington Avenue, city records show.
World Wide, headed by Victor Elmaleh, closed on the purchase of the 78,723-square-foot commercial building on Jan. 24, after going into contract in September, city records recorded today reveal.
That same day, the company took out a $26.5 million mortgage from M&T Bank covering the buildings from 143 to 153 East 60th Street, and a $32.5 million mortgage from the same lender secured by the newly acquired building.
World-Wide is active in the city. Last fall, it began construction on a long-stalled site in Long Island City where it is raising a $157 million rental building. It is also constructing a 59-story residential tower at 252 East 57th Street.
Bloomingdale’s and World-Wide did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A tower is planned for 60th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues, left, and to make room, businesses like the Subway Inn will relocate. Retail and residential projects are planned for an assembled parcel near the limestone Decoration and Design Building.
On East 60th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues, World Wide plans to build a residential development across from Bloomingdale’s. “That will also be a tall tower,” said Ms. Hodgson, adding that it would “be a similar type of development” to the East 57th Street project. To make way for the tower, World Wide has been steadily assembling low-rise buildings on the block, including the building that houses the Subway Inn, a beloved dive bar that has been in its location for 77 years. But World Wide did not renew the bar’s lease and on Dec. 2, the storied tavern is scheduled to close and later move to a new location on Second Avenue and 60th street, two blocks away.
Anyway, they don’t show a rendering, so presumably, the rendering shown when the property was being marketed does not apply. Maybe this will be BIG’s rumored East Side supertall.
I wonder when we’ll get some clarity on which design they’re going to choose (whether that means one from the contest, or something else entirely). I prefer KPF’s and think that design may be extra appealing in the luxury condo market 1) because of the taper, allowing for larger penthouse units and 2) the way it “fans out” creates a new exposure, 45ish degress off the grid, giving those upper apartments a dead-on view of the Park.
EDIT: ^^ Whoa, I posted literally seconds too late to see that new proposal. Seems that one is also torquing to create those 45-degree exposures from the KPF design. Very smart, and I imagine that may be a mandate from Kuafu – I’d be surprised if the winning design didn’t twist or fan out in some way. Not sure which proposal I prefer. The Archilier design is great, especially the height.
