Chetrit Group to convert rentals at Cassa Hotel and Residences into below-market condos

Offering plan cites $117.5 million sellout for 108 apartments at 515 Ninth Avenue

From left: Rendering of 515 Ninth Avenue, Meyer and Joseph Chetrit
From left: Rendering of 515 Ninth Avenue, Meyer and Joseph Chetrit

The Chetrit Group plans to convert the Cassa Hotel and Residences at 515 Ninth Avenue to condominiums, an offering plan filed with the New York Attorney General’s office by company president Meyer Chetrit shows.

The plans call for 108 for-sale units at a total sellout price of $117.5 million, meaning apartments would list for well under the Manhattan new development average ($4.8 million in the first quarter, according to appraisal firm Miller Samuel).

The Chetrits first floated condos at the location five years ago at what was then an empty development site, when a “Chetrit” was rumored to have taken a controlling interest in Assa Properties’ parcel, along with a mysterious partner known only as “Wolf.” The developers then built a 12-story hotel and rental building that opened in 2014.

An entity tied to Assa bought the site from Rosedale Equities in 2006, paying $36.3 million, records show.

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Calls to both Chetrit Group [TRDataCustom] and Assa Properties went unreturned.

A family business, Chetrit has long ranked among the city’s most active condo developers. In February, a 99-unit conversion at 49-51 Chambers Street was greenlighted to begin sales with a $334 million target sellout. The company, however, has also been held up as one the prime examples of the softening luxury condo market, after Chetrit and partner Clipper Equity bailed on a plan to convert the office building at 550 Madison Avenue into a 96-unit, $1.9 billion dollar residence.

With units that will average just over $1 million in asking price, the project at 515 Ninth Avenue is a far different type of conversion.

(To view more of the Chetrit Group’s commercial sales transactions, click here)