Naftali in contract to buy large UES development site

Miki Naftali has put another large development site under contract.

The developer’s Naftali Group signed a contract to pay $167 million for an Upper East Side development site it has been eyeing for about a year, sources told The Real Deal.

The site, owned by Muss Development and the Aryeh family, consists of six low-rise buildings at the southeast corner of East 83rd Street and Third Avenue, and has more than 250,000 buildable square feet.

That brings the contract price to about $668 per square foot.

Representatives for Naftali, Muss and the Aryeh family could not be immediately reached for comment. A JLL team headed by Bob Knakal and Clint Olsen negotiated the deal on behalf of the sellers, and also could not be immediately reached.

Naftali is planning to build a high-end residential condominium tower with a retail base on the site, according to marketing materials the company was using last year as it sought an equity partner.

Sources previously told TRD that Naftali had brought on the Rockefeller Group to form a joint venture to develop the sight, though it couldn’t be determined if Rockefeller is currently a partner.

The development parcels are located at 1461-1469 Third Avenue and 204 East 83rd Street. Additional air rights come from two buildings at 1453-1455 and 1459 Third Avenue at the corner of East 82nd Street.

The development site is the second large deal Naftali’s recently put into contract. The developer is angling to buy one of the last large development sites on the Williamsburg waterfront at a price somewhere between $180 million and $185 million, as TRD previously reported.