A real estate mogul with links to a fallen Connecticut development giant has acquired a commercial building with residential potential near the High Line for $24.35 million, according to public records filed with the city.
Joseph Beninati, one of the founders of Greenwich-based Antares, a real estate development and private equity company, signed the deed for 515 West 29th Street, records show. Antares is the developer behind such commercial office towers as 100 West Putnam Avenue in Greenwich, Conn., which it lost to Torchlight Investors last year after they defaulted on loans.
The seller of the property was developer Jackie Jangana’s Great Neck, N.Y.-based holding company Continental Worsteds, which acquired the building for just under $12.1 million in 2007.
Neither Jangana nor Beninati were immediately reachable for comment. The voice mail for Antares was full. Brokerage Nathaniel Christian Group represented both parties in the off-market transaction.
The 32,000-square-foot building sits on a 4,937-square-foot lot between Tenth and Eleventh avenues. There are already approved plans attached to the building for conversion to residential use on the second to sixth floors of the building. The High Line park wraps around the property’s perimeter on 30th Street.
The new buyer has not yet filed any plans for the building, according to the Department of Buildings website.