Extell sells former Ring building on 47th Street

Gary Barnett’s Extell Development has sold an office building that was formerly part of the Frank Ring portfolio at 20 West 47th Street for $38.59 million, according to public records filed with the city today.

Extell, which was already a 75 percent stakeholder in the building, wrested full control of the building from the Rings in a court-ordered judicial sale in February 2011.

It has now sold the property to Alishaev Brothers, a jeweler based at 55 West 47th Street, which plans to convert the ailing building into a Class A office property. The deal for the property closed July 18, according to records. Barnett was not immediately available for comment.

Robert Hadi, director of leasing for ABS Partners, the company appointed managing and leasing agent by the new owner, said Alishaev has already begun renovating the property, which will offer office spaces sized between 1,000 and 22,000 square feet. The company has replaced the windows and has plans to revamp the building’s common spaces.

Asking rents will be slightly lower than the average for the area surrounding Rockefeller Center, he said; rents in the neighborhood regularly average $80 to $100 per square foot, he said. “They’re going to [convert] this sadly neglected office building into a state-of-the-art modern office property,” Hadi said.

The building is largely vacant at the moment, he added, though he could not specify exact occupancy figures.

As The Real Deal previously reported, Extell outbid Parkway Realty and Bluestone Group to take control of the building last year, paying $18.25 million for the remaining stake.

“We think the price for a 150,000-[square-foot] building, close to Fifth Avenue, with a large jewelry exchange made sense for us to purchase,” Barnett said at the time. “We expect the whole block to be upgraded once the International Gem Tower [which his firm is building on the same block at 50 West 47th Street] goes vertical, which will be within two months.”

The Ring family, which The Real Deal profiled in June, is famous for leaving its collection of sought-after buildings largely empty as the result of an ongoing dispute between brothers Michael and Frank.