NEW YORK | 655 Madison Ave | 1,162 FT | 74 FLOORS

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Interesting. So the initial permits were just placeholders, which is typical for Extell.

I wonder about the real plans. Now that they're buying up the rest of the block, Barnett will have secured a massive increase in air rights. I wonder how high this will go.

Very typical of Extell, but could also just be a speck of fortune and good luck. I suspect they have been trying to get those properties, but showed they were willing to move forward without them.

[ChiND]

This is AMAZING news for two reasons. First, we finally get rid of that hideous garbage. Second, perhaps a taller and more interesting tower will rise here. The DOB schematic did not look promising.

[NYguy]

According to tax property records, the assemblage would allow the site to go from 10,000 sf to 22,000 sf. Obviously, that would allow for a larger (and taller) tower.



With the additional properties...







Compared to Related's 625 Madison Avenue...







Gearing up perhaps to go face to face with Related. Any tower doesn't have to be as high as Related plans with 625 Madison...

[ChiND]

This is great news. I'm also glad that Il Mulino is relocating. That's a fabulous restaurant.

There's a lawsuit between Goldman's heirs. I hope that its resolution leads to the sale of many of its properties. They own much of the dilapidated garbage in prime areas of Manhattan.

[ChiND]

I walked by the Subway Inn site recently and thought what a world of difference one block makes in NY. If Extell builds an 800’+ Stern, it will probably sell quickly at $5k+/sf, whereas the Subway Inn site, which is about a thousand feet to the east on E 60th St., will probably sit as an empty lot for years.

Also, the western views from 520 Park proved to be ephemeral.

[NYguy]

https://therealdeal.com/new-york/202...il-management/

Extell pays $103M for properties next to planned Madison Avenue resi tower
Gary Barnett picks up three buildings from Sol Goldman’s Solil Management


By Elizabeth Cryan
Research by Matthew Elo
March 12, 2025

Gary Barnett’s Extell Development snapped up three buildings next to his planned Madison Avenue residential tower.

Extell bought 35, 37 and 39 East 60th Street from Sol Goldman’s Solil Management for $103 million, property records show. The assemblage is next to the 200,000-square-foot office building that Extell is planning to demolish to make way for a 62-unit residential tower and commercial space.

Extell had already filed plans to demolish the properties, Crain’s reported. An Extell spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the sale.

Extell purchased the adjacent property between East 60th and East 61st streets in October for nearly $160 million from Williams Equities.

So far, that’s $263 million for the site.

[ChiND]

How tall do you think that this tower can be with the extra square footage. I hope that Extell and Related go with a classic Stern style on these sites.

[Crawford]

I would love to see a traditionally-designed 900-ft.+ tower. Doesn't have to be Stern, but it would be nice. That would mean two Stern towers on the same block.

[ChiND]

I'd be happy with two traditional towers. They could complement each other like The Sherry Netherland and The Pierre.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by ChiND

How tall do you think that this tower can be with the extra square footage. I hope that Extell and Related go with a classic Stern style on these sites.

Originally Posted by Crawford

I would love to see a traditionally-designed 900-ft.+ tower. Doesn't have to be Stern, but it would be nice. That would mean two Stern towers on the same block.

Any new tower here should be at least as high as 520 Park Avenue, which it will now border. 520 is not a particularly large tower, with about 178,000 zoned sf.

[ChiND]

520 Park is incredible. Stern never fails.

[NYguy]

The buildings added to Extell's assemblage directly border 520 Park Avenue, on a well blended block. It will be interesting to see how Extell establishes a new building in this space.

[ChiND]

Isn't that more than what Extell paid for the whole site including the 60th street parcels? This huge deal suggests that the tower will be pretty promising.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by ChiND

Isn't that more than what Extell paid for the whole site including the 60th street parcels? This huge deal suggests that the tower will be pretty promising.

By a lot. Extell paid about $263 M for the combined site.

Related is reportedly doing something similar at 625 Madison. Either that space was spoken for, or 655 was probably just a better fit.

[ChiND]

Originally Posted by NYguy

By a lot. Extell paid about $263 M for the combined site.

I thought so. If Extell builds a high-quality building here, it will make an enormous amount of money. It's already ahead of the game with this retail deal.

[The New York Lion]

This will probably be another 1,000-footer.

Incredible.

[ChiND]

Originally Posted by The New York Lion

This will probably be another 1,000-footer.

Incredible.

It might not be that tall, but I'd be thrilled with an 850' limestone masterpiece. If it is 1,000'+, then so much the better!

[Crawford]

I think we have decent odds of a supertall. At least a 900-ft. tower.

[NYguy]

They just want in at the new tower…


https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-e...rf-development

The 16-page complaint makes claims that the Zeckendorf brothers were desperate to unload the last sponsor unit at the $1.3 billion, 35-unit project, and the priciest of the bunch to boot, as Extell’s plans became increasingly clear.

The first move by Extell to acquire office building 655 Madison Ave. for $159 million in a deal that closed Oct. 10 didn’t ruffle any feathers, according to the complaint. “This news,” the suit says, “did not concern buyer, nor should it have.”

Indeed, at 34 stories, No. 655, which has been approved for demolition, did not seem to come with enough air rights to allow a skyscraper tall enough to overshadow 64-story 520 Park, the suit says.

So the buyer went ahead and inked a deal to purchase the five-bedroom penthouse as well as a pair of fourth-floor staff apartments, the filing says. The buyer signed a contract for the units Oct. 29 before closing Nov. 20 in an all-cash transaction, according to the city register.

But the suit alleges that the Zeckendorfs purposefully neglected to mention that Extell President Gary Barnett was at the time negotiating to buy four additional sites that could allow him to make his tower much larger. The sites, 33, 35, 37 and 39 E. 60th St., which Barnett bought from the Goldman family for $103.3 million, went into contract Dec. 18, a couple of weeks after the penthouse sale.

The Goldman sale closed Feb. 26; Barnett applied to demolish the 5-story mixed-use buildings a few days later.

[Hudson11]

doesn't 520 Park Avenue have a false facade on one side to cover the core wall? If its this side that's pretty hilarious.

looking through pictures I think that's only on the bottom levels.