Land-buying frenzy lures three major sites to market

520 Fifth Ave., 1710 Broadway and 200 Amsterdam are up for grabs

1710 Broadway (Credit: agorafy)
1710 Broadway (Credit: agorafy)

Spurred by development properties commanding upwards of $1,000 per square foot in recent months, some of the city’s biggest landowners are sensing a bright opportunity to sell. Three major development sites have hit the market in the past week, led by Joseph Sitt’s 520 Fifth Avenue, a site at the corner of West 43rd Street that Thor Equities spent the past year preparing for development of a retail, hotel, and residential space.

Thor is hoping for at least $350 million for the site, which holds about 350,000 buildable square feet, HFF’s Andrew Scandalios told Crain’s.

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Meir Cohen and Ben Korman’s C&K Properties listed 1710 Broadway with JLL’s Ron Cohen. The site that can accommodate a tower as high as 1,000 feet and allows for approximately 380,000 square feet of development. It is expected to fetch $380 million or more, according to Crain’s. A six-story building currently stands on the site and houses tenants including Sean Combs’ Bad Boy Entertainment. The firm recently secured a package of air rights to bring the properties’ value to its full potential.

Finally, the owner of an Upper West Side property at 200 Amsterdam Avenue is asking more than $400 million for land that would allow the tallest building in the neighborhood, a 388,000-square-foot, 600-foot-high residential tower. CBRE is marketing the property. [Crain’s] — Tess Hofmann