A Midtown site once slated to be developed into a skinny 700-foot residential tower is on the market, The Real Deal has learned.
The site, at 12-14 East 37th Street, has a small 51 by 100-feet footprint but is not subject to any height restrictions, meaning it could become the latest slender spire on the Manhattan skyline.
Turkish development firm Nef announced last year that the tower would be its first foray into the New York market. It even tapped architecture firm Perkins + Will to design a show-stopping, superslim tower, which included built-in parks and even an outdoor cinema.
But its deal for the site never closed. A spokesperson for the company said it was hoping to proceed with the deal on new terms but the site’s owner appears to be looking for a buyer elsewhere, tapping Ackman Ziff’s Jason Meister, David Robinov and David Borden to market it for sale.
The brokers declined to provide an asking price but industry insiders said the parcel is likely worth somewhere in the range of $65 million to $75 million.
“Sites with these kind of central locations very rarely come on the market,” Meister said.
The brokers declined to comment on the identity of their client but public records indicate that the owner is Morris Bildirici, whose family has owned the property since the late 1980s.
The site could be developed as either a condo or a hotel.
Nef had planned 65 apartments, ranging from 400-square-foot studios to 1,800-square-foot floor-through units.