A vacant lot at 1790 Third Avenue is slated to be developed into a 55-unit residential tower, according to plans filed with the New York City Department of Buildings.
The new project, on the west side of Third Avenue between East 99th and East 100th streets, will total 41,831 square feet with 13 stories, according to the plans, which have not yet been approved.
The proposal was filed by Val Noretz, the director of development at Israeli investment giant Africa Israel, but Noretz said the company has nothing to do with the development. Rather, he said he was filing the plans on behalf of the site’s new owner, who recently signed a contract of sale on the property, but whose identity was unclear. Noretz declined to comment on the nature of his relationship with the person who would develop the site.
“The paperwork was executed for the owner because he was not available at the time,” Noretz said.
The title for the property is still held by Harlem real estate magnet Steven Kessner, who has owned the property since 1996, but will soon be transferred to the new owner once the deal for the property has closed, sources said. The site is currently home to a two-story, 6,500-square-foot commercial building.
The site had been on the market for $6 million, listed by Eastern Consolidated’s Adelaide Polsinelli and Marcia Rose Yawitz, according to the brokerage’s website. Polsinelli declined to comment on the identity of the buyer or the contract price.
The site comes with 8,650 square feet of adjacent air rights from 1788 Third Avenue, according to the listing.
The new building will be designed by Susan Wright of IBI Group • Gruzen Samton. Wright did not respond to a request for comment.