Extell sells Flatiron development site to first-time Manhattan buyer

UPDATE [Sept. 13 10:00 p.m.]: In an email to The Real Deal, Massey Knakal Realty Services Chairman Bob Knakal said the sale mentioned below never took place.

Extell Development has sold a Flatiron development site to Gale International, the Manhattan-based developer run by the same family that founded Long Island residential brokerage Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty. The purchase marks the first Manhattan acquisition for Gale, Crain’s said, as it has mostly focused on the $35 billion development of a new city in South Korea.

The deal is for the land at 19-25 West 20th Street, which is a 9,200-square-foot lot and includes air rights to build three stories atop an adjacent seven-story parking garage. In 2008, Gary Barnett’s firm won Landmarks Preservation Commission approval to build a 15-story residential building on the vacant lot and attach it to three additional stories on the garage for a total of 19 units. It acquired the property, including the garage that was not part of the Gale deal, in 2008 for $28 million.

Massey Knakal Realty Services had the listing for the property and was asking about $300 per buildable square-foot. Extell’s plans had called for 38,845 square feet, according to Department of Buildings filings. [Crain’s] — Adam Fusfeld