Alf Naman seeks to break Chelsea land price record

Developer asking $27M -- or $982 per square foot -- for Anton Kern Gallery parcel

532 West 20th Street (Inset: Alf Naman and James Nelson)
532 West 20th Street (Inset: Alf Naman and James Nelson)

Developer Alf Naman is putting the site of the Anton Kern Gallery in Chelsea on the market for $27 million, brokers told The Real Deal.

The one-story building sits on a 4,600-square-foot lot at 532-534 West 20th Street, between 10th and 11th avenues. The land boasts 27,500 buildable square feet for residential or mixed-use development.

If the property sells for nearly $982 per buildable square foot, it would set a record for the sale of a development site in Chelsea, said James Nelson, partner at Massey Knakal Realty Services. Developer Michael Shvo currently holds the record after paying $850 per buildable square foot, or $23.5 million, last year for 239 10th Avenue.

Nelson and Emmetsberger, along with David Johnson and Alan Miller of the 5Points Group, were hired to Exclusively Handle Sales And Marketing For The 20th Street site. Nelson and his colleague Brock Emmetsburger, first vice president of sales, also marketed 239 10th Avenue.

The air rights formerly belonging to the gallery were transferred to the nearby 100 11th Avenue, a 23-story condominium tower developed by Cape Advisors, according to Nelson.

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The property last sold for $3.5 million in 2005, property records show.

The Anton Kern Gallery opened at the location in the early 2000s. From 1999 to 2001, according to its website, it operated at 558 Broadway in Soho. That space is now occupied by the retailer H&M.

Neither Naman, head of Alf Naman Real Estate Advisors, nor Kern could be reached for comment.