[sparkling]

BY DANIEL GEIGER
JANUARY 12, 2015

C&K Properties, meanwhile, the real estate investment outfit operated by Meir Cohen and Ben Korman, has put 1710 Broadway on the market. The site, on the corner of West 54th Street, can accommodate a tower as high as 1,000 feet. Like 520 Fifth Ave., whatever is eventually built will likely be a blend among retail, hotel and residential. That site is likely to sell for $1,000 or more per foot, or $380 million-plus, given that it allows about 380,000 square feet of development. The property is currently home to a six-story building built 97 years ago. Its tenants include Bad Boy Entertainment, the record label founded by former rapper Sean Combs.

Brokerage company Jones Lang LaSalle is marketing the building. Mr. Cohen and Mr. Korman recently secured additional air rights to bring the site up to its current size potential.

Down the road, the property could become the site for a test run of a new business JLL plans to launch here. The publicly traded company, the world’s second biggest real estate services company behind only CBRE Group, plans to break into residential brokerage by bringing buyers from the Far East to New York City condo projects. JLL already provides that service to property developers in London.

Ron Cohen, a broker at JLL who is leading the sales effort for 1710 Broadway, said the service would market properties to Asian buyers via JLL’s network of offices in that area of the world as well as advise New York City developers on what types of projects to build in order to cater to those Asian consumers. Mr. Cohen said that he is advising whoever buys 1710 Broadway to raise a spire with a collection of smaller apartments, including studios and one and two bedrooms.

"There are a lot of buyers in Asia who are looking to spend $4 million to $5 million on an apartment," Mr. Cohen said. "In recent years, developers have focused on building bigger apartments—three bedrooms and more—that cost well in excess of that. There’s a hole in the market right now and a strong demand for these smaller apartments."

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/201...ot-market-for-building-sites-draws-crowd