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

[NYguy]

https://www.bisnow.com/new-york/news...rojects-130828

Extell Lands $1.2B In Equity From Hedge Fund For 9 Projects — Including 1.8M SF Disney Redevelopment


September 05, 2025
Sasha Jones

655 Madison Ave.

Since acquiring 655 Madison Ave. for $160M a year ago, Extell has been charging ahead with the construction of a mixed-use tower.

Originally, a 37-story building was pitched for the site. In July, that proposal was supersized to a 765K SF, 74-story skyscraper with 154 condos, 163K SF of office and 70K SF of retail, according to documents filed with the Department of City Planning.

That’s only if Barnett receives the proper zoning approval. As of right, the developer can build an 84-story supertall with a total of approximately 600K SF.

Extell has reached a sales agreement with a fashion and cosmetics company for the commercial space in the planned tower, according to the TASE filings, which appear to confirm reports that Chanel is in talks to buy the retail space for around $450M.

[NYguy]

https://www.curbed.com/article/520-p...l-lawsuit.html

A Park Avenue Scuffle Over an $80 Million View


By Matthew Sedacca
September 9, 2025

When sales at 520 Park opened in 2015, the pitch was clear: The Robert A.M. Stern–designed tower, 54 stories of limestone lording over Central Park, was for Masters of the Universe. William and Arthur Zeckendorf had paid a pretty penny for the address itself because, as they wrote at the time to then–Manhattan borough president Scott Stringer, its prominence in the skyline called for something grander than 45 East 60th — a mere “midblock building.” A listing asking $100 million for the top-floor penthouse duplex (carved out of a triplex that had previously asked $130 million) boasted of an “unprecedented” solarium, a custom staircase, and five bedrooms. And because it was at the tippy-top of a supertall, “panoramic views from all four exposures.” A-Rod (and then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez) were reportedly intrigued. The vacuum billionaire James Dyson bought a sponsor unit for just under $74 million. Sale records were set as the building’s “mansions in the sky” filled up.

Enter: 655 Madison Avenue, the incoming supertall being developed by Gary Barnett’s Extell — purveyor of all things tall, skinny, and expensive. Barnett was initially tight-lipped about his plans for the lot, which Extell purchased this past October for nearly $160 million, but its scope came into focus after his firm acquired the adjacent properties. In July, Extell revealed a pair of renderings for the supertall, one of which appears to put a new 84-story tower close enough to 520 Park that each building’s residents could reasonably look in on the other. (Extell’s second rendering, at 74 stories, includes setbacks that would give some space between the two high-rises.) But perhaps worst of all, the new tower meant 520 Park could lose its west-facing views. No more panorama!

Whether the 520 buyers are victims of a nasty little trick or just foolish for thinking they could control the skyline, shifting views are not an uncommon problem. New buildings go up all the time in the city, so it’s nearly impossible to know what you might be looking at from your kitchen window ten years from now. “I cannot tell you the amount of buildings where I have drawn lot-line windows, and they have beautiful views, and they just … disappear,” says Alex Loyer Hughes, co-founder of Kurv Architecture. “It’s frustrating, but if you’re going to drop that many millions on a condo, you need to be looking at the fine print.” Asher Alcobi, who recently sold the building’s 31st-story unit, believes the views at 520 Park ultimately are “not going to be blocked” by 655 — though perhaps “compromised.” (Another real-estate type, however, was less generous — the view of the park wasn’t the problem; it was looking at the neighboring tower itself that would hurt: “Extell buildings are historically ugly.”)

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by NYguy

https://www.cb8m.com/event/33710/

Landmarks Committee
PUBLIC HEARING
Monday, September 15, 2025 - 6:30 PM

They'll be discussing the transfer of development rights and the continued maintenance plan for the Metropolitan Club....



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[NYguy]

Discussion at the 3:07 mark...


Nice to see Bunny Folger making an appearance at 3:33


• Video Link

[NYguy]

September 20, 2025












Starting to see some progress...



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The Metropolitan Club...

[NYguy]

More graphics…

[NYguy]

OCTOBER 24, 2024

[NYguy]

A comparison between Extell's 871 7th (Wellington) and Extell's 655 Madison. We now wait for Extell's ABC site tower, which will be the tallest of the trio. All 3 will be taller than Extell's 740 8th Avenue supertall.

[NYguy]

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

[NYguy]

https://therealdeal.com/new-york/202...zed-buildings/

Gary Barnett deal shows way to save rent-stabilized buildings
City of Yes allowed more air rights transfers, helping landmarked properties

When you think Gary Barnett, you think Billionaires’ Row penthouses, not run-down rental buildings.

But Barnett’s Fifth Avenue air rights deal offers a solution for rent-stabilized properties in crisis.

Barnett’s Extell Development is acquiring 135,000 square feet of air rights from the Metropolitan Club on Fifth Avenue for his mixed-use project at 655 Madison Avenue — a deal made possible by the City of Yes.

The club’s 790 Fifth Avenue is a landmark. Before City of Yes, it could sell air rights to a very limited number of properties next to it, but because the market was microscopic, a deal never happened. The club is only using 42 percent of its theoretical square footage, according to PropertyScout.

The City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, passed in 2023, allowed landmarks to transfer air rights to sites farther away. Barnett’s development site is a full avenue from the Metropolitan Club, but now it can acquire the club’s rights.

If Extell uses the 135,000 extra square feet to build more apartments, it would mean homes for hundreds more people and millions of dollars of additional tax revenue. I think we can all agree those are good things.

Another plus: The Metropolitan Club will get money from the sale. Landmarks are expensive to maintain, and the sale proceeds will be used to fund continuing maintenance under a plan filed with the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Given the extra costs that the commission imposes on buildings when it makes them landmarks, expanding their ability to sell air rights was the least the city could do.

Why not help rent-stabilized buildings in the same way?

[NYguy]

https://www.bisnow.com/new-york/news...vestors-132377

Gary Barnett Is Chasing Cash Flow Over Condos


December 15, 2025
Sasha Jones

……. Extell's most dramatic venture is 740 Eighth Ave., where Extell is building a supertall mixed-use hotel featuring a drop ride a thousand feet above Times Square. Roughly nine floors of the 52-story tower have risen so far, he said.

He said on the Nov. 30 call that Extell expects to close a construction loan for the project, known as The Torch, during the first quarter. Bisnow previously reported that the firm has lined up as much as $1.3B in financing for the development.

“We're in a position where the hotel could open up in less than three years. The building should be finished in four years,” Barnett said. “We're expecting it to generate enormous cash flow for the company.”

The company already owns a handful of hotels in Times Square and resorts in other parts of the country, as well as operating third-party management firm Extell Hospitality Services.

Extell picked up 655 Madison Ave. for approximately $160M after Williams Equities was determining a new future for the building, having already filed a demolition permit at the site. There, Barnett is planning a mixed-use supertall with residential, office and retail, according to filings with the Department of City Planning.

Extell’s project pipeline also includes the former Wellington Hotel at 871 Seventh Ave., where it is planning a 1,050-foot tower with 156 hotel rooms, 130 residential units, 55 parking spaces and ground-floor retail, according to city filings.

The developer also acquired the multiproperty former Disney campus on Columbus Avenue and West 66th Street. The firm has filed permits to build a 25-story building at 37 W. 66th St., though Barnett has a habit of changing plans to dramatically add square footage later in the process.

It is also planning a 1,200-foot tower at 77 W. 66th St. that has faced pushback from the well-to-do neighborhood, with actor Tony Danza leading protests against Barnett.

Many of the coming projects are being supported by $1.2B of preferred equity from an unidentified hedge fund, Bisnow first reported. Barnett said the financing deal closed in early July and that “we have all the money we need” as a result.

[NYguy]

https://commercialobserver.com/2025/...-tyko-capital/

Extell’s 655 Madison Ready to Rise With $1.13B Loan From Tyko Capital
Chanel bought the tower's retail podium and will also utilize some of its office space


BY CATHY CUNNINGHAM
DECEMBER 16, 2025

The year may be drawing to a close, but the deals just keep on closing — including New York City’s biggest construction loan of the year, no less.

Gary Barnett’s Extell Development just sealed a mammoth construction loan for its new supertall skyscraper at 655 Madison Avenue, Commercial Observer has learned.

Tyko Capital is the lender behind the $1.13 billion financing that closed Dec. 15, sources said. The deal was direct, with no brokers involved.

Rising 74 stories and designed by Beyer Blinder Belle, 655 Madison Avenue will span 764,698 square feet and feature condo units in the upper floors, a retail podium at its base, and office floors in between.

Luxury fashion house Chanel will house its new retail flagship at the building’s base and also have offices in the building, sources said.

The company struck a deal to acquire roughly 65,000 square feet of space in total for around $450 million earlier this year, following in the footsteps of other brands who snapped up New York City real estate in the past few years instead of renting it.

[The New York Lion]

Incredible news.

[NYguy]

Gary Barnett is a master of getting shit done.

[Hudson11]

I wonder if this means LVMH is closing in on 745 Fifth and is going to supersize their own tower. There were reports the two companies were bidding for ownership of the other tower, and that curious rendering that appeared on the internet.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Hudson11

I wonder if this means LVMH is closing in on 745 Fifth and is going to supersize their own tower. There were reports the two companies were bidding for ownership of the other tower, and that curious rendering that appeared on the internet.

Probably not, with the current tower sailing through approvals, but you never know.

[ChiND]

Doesn't Beyer Blinder usually incorporate stone facades on residential towers? While I'm not expecting a Stern-caliber tower here, I'd much rather have something like The Kent with a brick facade and classic, windows with grids than a simple glass box.

Maybe there will even be some semblance of a crown like on The Kent.


BBB

Gary Barnett bags $1B+ loan for 655 Madison
Project involves rezoning for 765K sf, reaching 1,162 feet with 154 units


https://therealdeal.com/new-york/202...r-655-madison/

[NYguy]

The office and retail component lends itself to glass.






The drawing itself shows a glass tower.

[ChiND]

You’re right. This is likely going to be a very bland box. I wish it were a lot shorter.

I vastly prefer Stern’s 350 foot jewel at 800 Fifth over Extell’s 1,150 foot banal, glass box which is likely to rise on Madison. Then again, to each his own.

I dread the prospect of two boring, very tall Extell boxes on the UES and UWS.

Gary should emulate Naftali. Their projects are like suits from J.C. Penny and Brooks Brothers, respectively.

[Crawford]

I don't think the architects have ever done a glass box. They're known for doing ultra-contextual retro historicist designs. Just look at their most recent towers on the UES.