Extell pays $308M for Frank Ring’s stake in 13 buildings

From left: Frank Ring, 251 Park Avenue South, 212 Fifth Avenue and Gary Barnett
From left: Frank Ring, 251 Park Avenue South, 212 Fifth Avenue and Gary Barnett

Gary Barnett’s Extell Development paid $308.2 million for Frank Ring’s 50 percent stake in 13 buildings, mostly located in Midtown South, city records show. The acquisition was announced in October when the contract was signed but the price had not been revealed.

Ring and his brother Michael each owned a 50 percent stake in those 13 properties, as well as each owning a 25 percent stake in an additional building, 251 Park Avenue South. Along with their father Leo, they built up the portfolio over several decades before Leo died in 1998.

The most expensive of the 50 percent stakes in buildings was the 184,890-square-foot 212 Fifth Avenue, which sold for $90 million. That was followed by the stake in the 46,600-square-foot 331 Park Avenue South, for $34 million, then the 56,200-square-foot 114 East 25th Street and the 150,000-square-foot 119 West 24th Street, which each sold for $30 million.

The least expensive property was a 50 percent stake in 23 West 24th Street, which Extell bought for $2.5 million. The transfer in the 13 buildings was completed January 13.

Extell and Ring announced in October that Extell reached an agreement to buy Ring’s stake in a 14-building package but the price was not revealed at the time. The 14th building was 251 Park Avenue South, however that transfer has not appeared on city records yet.

It was a short road for Barnett, who inked the contract with Frank on Oct. 7, but many other real estate operators tried and failed to win control of the package.

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Joseph Tabak of Princeton Holdings with partners including his brother Eli Tabak signed a contract in 2011 to pay $112.5 million for a controlling interest in Michael Ring’s 50 percent stake in the portfolio, which then was 14 buildings. But Michael sought to back out, and fought them for years in court.

Barnett purchased Tabak’s contract to buy Michael’s stake for $64 million in June, and Michael Ring transferred his interests to a series of entities that are co-owned by Barnett’s Extell Development that month, city records show.

On the same day in January that Barnett purchased Frank’s stake, Barnett borrowed $315 million from Deutsche Bank, in one of the largest deals of the last 12 months. That loan is secured only by a 50 percent interest in each of the 13 properties, not on a full stake in each building.

Extell, as well as Frank and Michael Ring, did not respond to requests for comment.

The Observer first reported that some buildings in the portfolio sold but did not report a sale price for the entire package.