From left: Isaacs and Company President Joel Isaacs and the retail space at 680 Madison Avenue

Extell Development and Angelo, Gordon & Co. revealed renderings of their Carlton House renovation and, according to the New York Post, the most significant changes appear in the retail space at the base of the building.

The redesigned retail space, at 680 Madison Avenue, between 61st and 62nd streets, will have 32,000 square feet, with a first floor that has larger windows and doors than in the past and an asking price of $1,500 per square foot. The second floor, which has a slight majority of the total retail space, will have massive ceilings thanks to a combination of the current second and third floors and an asking price of $350 per square foot. That yields a blended rent of about $900 per foot, according to the Post. [more]

The city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously signed off today on a gut renovation of the Carlton House Hotel, according to an announcement from Extell Development, which is overseeing the project with partner Angelo Gordon & Company.

The partners picked up the property from the Helmsley estate last March for $170 million, closing it this past February in order to prepare for a conversion.

Originally built in 1951 as the Helmsley Carlton House, the building at 680 Madison Avenue currently contains 157 hotel and residential units, which were being vacated by the developers as their leases expired. Among the changes now planned: a two-story addition and two new infill buildings on the building’s north and south sides, an upgrade to its 32,000-square-foot retail space and a restoration of the exterior façade, Extell said today. – Sarabeth Sanders [more]

Mourners are attending a mass this morning for Keith Barket, the top global real estate executive at investment firm Angelo, Gordon, who died last week at age 49. Barket, a senior managing director at Angelo, Gordon and the head of the firm’s worldwide real estate activities, died of stomach cancer Dec. 22, according to the Wall Street Journal. Barket, along with colleague Adam Schwartz, was ranked 30 among New York real estate’s Power 100 by the Observer. TRD [more]

The Carlton House Hotel, a 16-story building at 680 Madison Avenue and East 62nd Street, will close at the end of the year to undergo a massive renovation and conversion into an apartment building, Crain’s reported. In March, Angelo Gordon and partner Extell Development purchased the 160-unit building from the Helmsley estate for $170 million. About half of the building is already comprised of apartments, but they will be emptied when their leases expire next year. “I never thought they’d open it as a hotel [after the renovation],” said Thomas McConnell, senior managing director of Cushman & Wakefield Sonnenblick Goldman. “It was pretty apparent that for the [high] price they paid, it was going to be a residential conversion.” The owners filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification on Friday with the state Department of Labor, indicating that the property will close Feb. 14, 2011. The building was first conceived as a residential property when it opened in 1953 and was called the Helmsley Carlton House. The new owners renamed it this year. Construction will take about two years to complete. [Crain's]

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Gary Barnett and the Helmsley Carlton House at 680 Madison Avenue

Gary Barnett’s Extell Development partnered with investment firm
Angelo, Gordon to buy the Helmsley Carlton House at 680 Madison Avenue
for about $170 million from the Helmsley estate, the Wall Street
Journal first reported. Barnett and Midtown-based Angelo, Gordon are together in contract to buy the 160-unit hotel and apartment building at Madison Avenue between 61st and 62nd streets, which was being marketed by CB Richard Ellis vice chairman Darcy Stacom, three sources confirmed to The Real Deal.

According to one of the sources, the bids were due last Friday, and needed to include a signed contract and a $10 million deposit. A fourth source, speaking yesterday, said there were six bids made for the property. The retail portion of the building is considered a particularly valuable asset, insiders said. Angelo, Gordon, one of many investors partnering with local players to purchase distressed properties in New York, declined to comment on the sale. CBRE and Extell did not immediately respond to calls for comment. TRD [more]

An interior at the Helmsley Carlton House at 680 Madison Avenue and Darcy Stacom, a vice chairperson with CB Richard Ellis, who is handling the sale

The Helmsley Carlton House, a 160-unit hotel-apartment building offering both short- and long-term stays in studios and one- and two-bedroom units, is hitting the auction block, in a sale that could prove a strong indicator of high-end Manhattan market stability, according to Crain’s. The sale of the building, located at 680 Madison Avenue between 61st and 62nd streets, is being handled by Darcy Stacom, a vice chairperson with CB Richard Ellis, who reportedly declined to comment on the auction. Over 100 buyers have already expressed interest in the building auction, Crain’s said.