Atkins & Breskin buys Ring building, plans condo conversion

Atkins & Breskin has picked up a 10-story commercial building at 34 West 17th Street – the latest property in Extell Development’s Ring portfolio to be sold – for $20 million, The Real Deal has learned. The Lower East Side-based real estate investment firm, led by Jerry Atkins, will convert the building into full-floor residential condominiums.

In June, the vacant 25,000-square-foot office building near Union Square was the first of the 14 portfolio assets to hit the market since Extell took control in 2013, as TRD reported. The condo units will average 2,300 square feet, Atkins said, and the retail will share the ground floor with a duplex apartment.

Eastern Consolidated’s Ron Solarz, along with colleagues Chris Matousek and Michael Levine, exclusively represented Extell and found the buyer.

The property — located between Fifth and Sixth Avenues — is zoned for both residential and commercial use, and has no additional air rights.

Hustvedt Cutler Architect is designing the project, while Douglas Elliman’s Bertrand Buchin is handling sales, which are expected to launch by spring 2016.

Extell gained full control of the Ring portfolio in October 2013, after paying more than $300 million for Frank Ring’s 50 percent stake. It has since been busy selling the portfolio piecemeal for hefty profits. Since December, closed sales included 212 Fifth Avenue — the crown jewel of the portfolio — for $260 million, 331 Park Avenue South for $39.5 million and 114 East 25th Street for $36.5 million. These three buildings are also slated for a residential conversion. Extell also sold ground leases for four of the buildings to the Kaufman Organization in a deal valued at about $175 million, as TRD first reported.

Atkins & Breskin sold the residential component of a six-story East Village dormitory building to Slate Property Group and RWN Real Estate Partners for $26 million in November.