Developer Yair Levy is said to be behind the purchase of Tin Pan Alley — a series of five four-story Rowhouses On West 28th Street between Broadway and Sixth Avenue in Chelsea — in order to convert them to condominiums, the blog Lost City reported, citing unnamed sources.
The houses at 47-55 West 28th Street hit the market for a total of $44 million in 2008 on the eve of the market crash, as The Real Deal reported. A plan to replace them with a high-rise fell through. The properties came back on the market in April, with Massey Knakal Realty Services handling sales. All retail units in the buildings were offered vacant.
Preservationists fought for the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission to grant the buildings landmark status, to no avail. The properties used to be home to the publishers of “God Bless America,” “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and other songs from the American Songbook.
Levy is banned from selling condos and co-ops statewide. He was ordered in 2011 to pay $7.4 million for having raided the reserve fund at the Rector Square condos for personal and family expenses. [Lost City] — Mark Maurer