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]

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]

With three large Manhattan commercial properties recently listed for sale, and another reportedly on its way to the block, prospective buyers are swirling and observers are wondering whether this is the beginning of a market comeback. Last month, Broadway Partners’ 340 Madison Avenue, the 740,000-square-foot office tower that has positive cash flow and is nearly 100 percent occupied, went on the market, and sources told Crain’s it is listed for about $700 per square foot. Joining 340 Madison Avenue on the market is the Helmsley Carlton House hotel at 680 Madison Avenue, which has apparently already drawn bids of $150 million-plus, and Hines Interests’ 600 Lexington Avenue, which went up for grabs last week. Shorenstein Properties is expected to begin shopping around its 125 Park Avenue office tower next week. Since none of these properties’ owners are desperate for cash, they could easily pull the buildings from the market if they don’t command what they view as a fair price, analysts say. Vulture investors have spent the last year building up war chests in the hopes that properties like these might eventually go up for sale, but whether investors and owners will be able to agree on pricing as the commercial market emerges from its crash remains to be seen. [Crain's]

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.