Silverstein looking to sell 514 11th Avenue, but not over affordable housing

Developer planning a 1.8M sf, 1,400-unit resi building at the site

From left: Larry Silverstein and a potential rendering for 514 11th Avenue
From left: Larry Silverstein and a rendering for 514 11th Avenue

UPDATED: 10:10 a.m., Oct. 28: The city’s aggressive affordable housing requirements aren’t the reason Larry Silverstein is looking to sell 514 11th Avenue, contrary to previous reports.

The developer, who was planning to build a 1.8 million-square-foot residential building at the site, was said to be looking to sell over city demands that the building include 375,000 square feet of affordable housing, and not the 250,000 square feet that Silverstein had offered.

“The paper was 100 percent wrong,” Silverstein told the New York Post. “We’ve got about $10 billion worth of construction underway and it’s too much. So I said if you get a good price for it, sell it. And if you can’t, put it on the shelf and wait until we finish what else we are doing.”

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When asked what constitutes a good price, the developer grinned and walked away, the Post reported.

CBRE is marketing the building, according to a news release from the developer.

The planned tower was to stand over 1,100 feet and be home to 1,400 luxury housing units. It would also have had 300,000 square feet of retail space.

Silverstein bought the site, a former Mercedes-Benz dealership, for around $100 million earlier this year. [NYP]Ariel Stulberg

A previous version of the article stated Silverstein had decided not to sell the building.