NYguy SSP
660 Madison Ave.
Contrasted with the pounding sounds of jackhammers, the former Barneys store at 660 Madison Ave. sits quiet. In the window of what was once a small salon, abandoned bottles of hair products remain on display, gathering dust.
The nine-story retail condo, owned by Ashkenazy, was vacated by the department chain in 2020. It was briefly occupied by a Louis Vuitton pop-up in 2022 but has otherwise remained empty. Still, the developer has clung to the space.
“Barneys is the best piece of real estate on Madison Avenue,” Ben Ashkenazy said last year. “I’ve chosen to keep it vacant for a reason, because one big retailer is going to buy it.”
An empty building could be the perfect opportunity to compete with Extell and Related — and Ashkenazy has some added motivation. He once owned the ground under 625 Madison Ave. Ashkenazy’s partner Michael Alpert previously called the land “absolutely one of the best development sites in Manhattan.”
But Ashkenazy lost the site to SL Green in August 2023 following a combative foreclosure process. Related paid $633M for the property a few months later.
Now, 660 Madison Ave. could go up against the new construction across the street, if Ashkenazy or another developer so chooses, insiders say. A new tower on the site may even be able to block views of 625 Madison, harming its value.