L+M, Red Rooster snag NBA-owned Harlem building

Soul food restaurant sits on ground floor of 25K sf office property

<em>From left: Ron Moelis, 310 Lenox Avenue in Harlem and Andrew Chapman</em>
From left: Ron Moelis, 310 Lenox Avenue in Harlem and Andrew Chapman

L+M Development Partners and a co-owner of Red Rooster Harlem shelled out $21 million for the soul food restaurant’s home — a three-story office building owned by the National Basketball Players Association.

Red Rooster Harlem occupies part of the ground floor at the 24,600-square-foot property, located at 310 Lenox Avenue between West 125th and 126th streets.

L+M and another company, Chapman Consulting, purchased the building for $21 million, according to property records filed with the city last week. The soul food restaurant is co-owned by Chef Marcus Samuelsson and Andrew Chapman. Chapman is a partner at his family’s real estate investment firm, which appears to be the co-buyer.

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The Commercial Observer was the first to report that Red Rooster purchased the building, but didn’t mention L+M’s role in the deal.

L+M was listed as an LLC with the same address as the development company, and CEO Ron Moelis’ name appeared on the deed. Calls to Red Rooster seeking additional information on plans for the property were not immediately returned. A spokesman for L+M would only confirm that the developer bought the building with another investor.

News surfaced in September that the NBA players’ union planned to trade its Harlem headquarters for a bigger space at the Durst Organization’s 1133 Sixth Avenue. The organization signed a 47,000-square-foot lease for more than 21 years at the Midtown building.