Durst closes on Eichner’s East Harlem site for $91M

New owner "starting from scratch" on development plan

From left: Douglas Durst and Ian Bruce Eichner with a rendering of 1800 Park Avenue
From left: Douglas Durst and Ian Bruce Eichner with a rendering of 1800 Park Avenue

The Durst Organization closed on the acquisition of Ian Bruce Eichner’s distressed East Harlem development site for $90.95 million, and it plans on embarking on a new development plan at 1800 Park Avenue.

The Real Deal first reported in June that Durst [TRDataCustom] was in contract for the site — which sits on the corner of East 125th Street next to the elevated subway — but the sales price wasn’t publicized at the time.

Eichner bought the site in 2013 for $66 million from Vornado Realty Trust and planned to build a 32-story mixed-use building with 682 rental apartments, but defaulted on his debt before he could get the project off the ground.

Earlier this year, the Durst Organization bought close to $100 million in defaulted debt on the property and moved to foreclose on it. It ultimately abandoned those plans, and instead worked out a deal with Eichner to buy the site from him.

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Prior to giving up the site, Eichner poured a concrete footing in time to make the development eligible for the 421a tax abatement, which expired in January.

Durst won’t continue Eichner’s plan.

“We are starting from scratch,” spokesperson Jordan Barowitz the Post, which reported the closing. CEO Douglas Durst told the Post if the company builds in Harlem it will likely include a “significant amount of affordable housing.”  [NYP]  — Konrad Putzier