In a bid to jumpstart activity in a long-neglected section of East Harlem, the Joel Schreiber-led Waterbridge Capital has plans to build a 210,000-square-foot tower with retail and apartments.
The developer entered contract to buy five neighboring sites near the intersection of East 125th Street and Park Avenue for $37 million. The project would involve tearing down a hotel and low-rise retail sites currently there.
Douglas Elliman broker Lenny Sporn, Yair Tavivian and Ariel Tavivian represented Waterbridge and the sellers in the deal, which is slated to close during the winter, the New York Times reported. Waterbridge is on the hunt for a big-box retailer to occupy the multi-story, 67,000-square-foot retail space. Asking rents on 125th Street begin at $150 per square foot.
As for the residential component, Waterbridge wants to either build 160 high-end condominium units or an undetermined number of micro-unit rentals no larger than 400 square feet apiece.
On the opposite side of the nearby Metro-North train station, developer Continuum Company has proposed a 32-story mixed-use complex with 613,000 square feet of residential and 63,000 square feet of retail. [NYT] — Mark Maurer