Atlantic Foundation looks to cash in on Chelsea sale

Non-profit feeder fund the Atlantic Foundation has put its Chelsea digs — a site that could be worth as much as $45 million — up for sale.

The High Line-adjacent site at 540 West 21st Street has about 70,000 square feet of buildable space, but a buyer could add roughly 20,000 square feet by purchasing air rights from High Line area developers.

“A developer could build a 250-foot tall, 23-story building here, which is taller and bigger than many other development sites in the neighborhood,” Stephen Powers, a broker with Denham Wolf who is marketing the property, told Crain’s.

The area’s current zoning requires that one-third of the space in any development be commercial. Powers suggested that potential buyers consider a commercial condominium component in the base of a residential tower sold to art gallery tenants.

“This is a neighborhood that is populated with galleries and so we think there is a big market for condo space for those users,” Powers told Crain’s.

Until recently the Atlantic Foundation used the existing property to house a nonprofit it funds, but decided to cash in on soaring land prices after that group found space at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. [Crain’s] — Julie Strickland