UPDATED, 2:15 p.m., April 13: Turkish-American developer Murat Agirnasli and partners filed an offering plan for a 54-unit condominium at 570 Broome Street, New York State Attorney General’s office records show. The target sellout for the apartments is $149.2 million, for an average of $2.76 million per condo.
Agirnasli filed preliminary construction plans in 2014, planning a mere 185-foot-tall, 30-unit building. The developer will now build a 287-foot structure, however, after buying $3.5 million in air rights.
Agirnasli purchased the Broome Street parcels from Gary Barnett’s Extell Development and a private seller in 2014, paying $31 million. It demolished Our Lady of Vilnius, a church built by Lithuanian immigrants, in May 2015.
Agirnasli said that his development company, Agime Group, is not involved in the project, but that he could not comment further on the project details because of pending litigation. Last week, Agirnasli sued Madigan Development, developer of 111 Varick Street, for allegedly trying to sabotage Agirnasli’s project to protect 111 Varick’s 360-degree views.
First an apparel-trading entrepreneur before sliding into real estate, Agirnasli was born in Turkey in 1955. He started Apparel Trading International in 1983 and still serves as its CEO. With Agime Group, Agirnasli previously built two condominium developments in Williamsburg, the larger of them known as “Residences at The Williamsburg,” a 57-unit building at 135 North 11th Street.
Agirnasli’s co-sponsors on the 570 Broome Street development are partners of KSK Construction and according to Agirnasli, were until 2002 employees of Kiska Construction, a company that claims to have built 75 percent of the Chelsea High Line, according to a report in the New York World. In connection with the High Line contracts, three city officials were later fined by the City Conflict of Interest Board in 2008 for taking gifts from Kiska executives, which included a $4,000 honeymoon in Istanbul.
Clarification: This story has been updated to show Agirnasli’s comments on ongoing litigation and on his partners’ relationship with Kiska Construction.