Chelsea developer purchases three East Village sites for $33.2M


From left: Developer Charles Blaichman, empty lot at 214 East 14th Street and Howard Milstein, CEO of Milstein Properties

Developer Charles Blaichman, owner of Chrystie Street-based CM Developers, may be tiring of the Chelsea real estate scene. Blaichman, who previously partnered with rapper Jay-Z for an ill-fated residential development at 345 West 14th Street and had an ownership stake in 500 West 21st Street before it was taken over by Sherwood Equities, has purchased three development sites on East 14th Street for $33.2 million, according to public records filed with the city today.

The sites, at 208 East 14th Street, 214 East 14th Street and 216 East 14th Street, are all vacant lots, according to data from PropertyShark.com, and have 1,755 square feet, 18,761 square feet and 2,426 square feet, respectively.

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The seller is listed on public records as Builtgross Associates, a subsidiary of Milstein Properties with an address at 335 Madison Avenue. Builtgross purchased the three buildings in 1986. The price for that transaction was not clear, as it was before public records were available.

One of the sites, 214 East 14th Street, previously housed the Jefferson Theater but it has sat vacant since 1986 when Milstein purchased it. That property attracted some publicity in 2004 when a homeless woman was discovered murdered at the site. A man from the surrounding neighborhood later confessed to the killing.

Neither Blaichman nor a spokesperson for Milstein was immediately available for comment. It was not clear whether the deal involved a broker.