Kenneth Horn’s Alchemy Properties, in partnership with private equity firm the Carlyle Group, picked up an Upper West Side retail building for $51 million, with plans to tear it down and build a residential condominium tower, sources told The Real Deal.
The site at 2251-2259 Broadway, also known as 250-256 West 81st Street, holds a three-story property with nearly 20,000 square feet. But it offers 94,000 buildable square feet, allowing for a sizable residential building in its place.
Since Alchemy signed a lease for the property in June, the retail tenants have been in the process of moving out. The property is being delivered vacant. The Corcoran Group, for example, closed its office at the building late last year and is opening a new office at 221 Columbus Avenue later this year.
From left: Eli Scharf and Ivan Hakimian of HPNY
The off-market deal closed late last month for nearly $550 per buildable square foot, Alchemy confirmed.
Alchemy, a Midtown-based development firm, is still configuring its condo aims. An Alchemy spokesperson declined to discuss its plans, while a representative for Washington, D.C.-based Carlyle, which is serving as the equity partner, could not be immediately reached.
The seller is a group of families – the Cleemans, the Kleimans, the Holzers and the Dyckmans – that has owned the building for more than 40 years, according to property records.
HPNY’s Ivan Hakimian and Eli Scharf were involved in the deal. They declined to comment.
Alchemy is best known for developing the residential condo component of the iconic Woolworth Building, where a penthouse is asking $110 million.
Elsewhere in the neighborhood, SJP Properties is planning a 51-story condo building at 200 Amsterdam Avenue.