David Amirian plans Chelsea condo conversion

Developer buys vacant four-story commercial building for nearly $29M

From left: Alfa's Michael Namer, 117-119 West 21st Street and Brian Ezratty
From left: Alfa's Michael Namer, 117-119 West 21st Street and Brian Ezratty

The Amirian Group’s David Amirian picked up an empty four-story Chelsea commercial building for $28.5 million, with plans to convert it into condominiums.

The former gallery space at 117-119 West 21st Street, between Sixth and Seventh avenues, offers 38,600 buildable square feet. Amirian could construct a 12-story building with six full-floor apartments, two duplex penthouses and one townhouse, he told the New York Observer.

Eastern Consolidated’s Brian Ezratty represented the seller, Alfa Development, and introduced the buyer.

Sources told the newspaper the condo project is expected to cost about $54 million. Grade Architecture provided early designs.

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“We did not want to build the same product that has been seen over and over again,” Amirian told the newspaper. “We felt that a unique design and unique layout, providing full-floor apartments, with the opportunity to have parking would be special.”

Amirian, along with former partner Eric Brody and Wonder Works Construction’s Joseph Klaynberg, launched sales at the Robyn in the East Village last year.

Amirian and Brody, who ran the Amirian/Brody Group, split in June 2014, as Brody sought to focus on construction, Amirian said. The Amirian Group launched in January. [NYO]Mark Maurer