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New York

Rybak files plans for Midtown South site

Developer purchased site from Alex Sapir for $12M

Rybak Files Plans for Midtown South Site

A photo illustration of Rybak Development founder Sergey Rybak along with the current site at 218 Madison Avenue (Getty, Rybak Development, Google Maps)

Rybak Development is working quickly to replace a four-story commercial building in Midtown South with a multifamily project.

Sergey Rybak’s firm filed plans to demolish the property at 218 Madison Avenue, Crain’s reported. The building between East 36th and East 37th streets is 66-feet tall and spans 11,400 square feet.

Rybak suggested an 11-story multifamily project could rise from the rubble, delivering between 24 and 28 units. That minimal unit count — and the difficulty of building rental projects in New York City — point the project towards condominiums.

The developer wouldn’t be the first to try a multifamily development at the site. In 2015, Alex Sapir and a former partner paid $18.5 million for the site, planning a 10-story luxury residential development. Sapir proceeded to buy out his partner, a Turkish group, for $10.1 million.

But Sapir reversed course in 2019, hoping to garner $23 million. Three months ago, Rybak bit at the deeply discounted price of $12 million.

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Rybak did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Real Deal.

Rybak and Ruby Schron’s Cammeby’s International Group last year landed $252 million in financing for a mixed-use project at 532 Neptune Avenue in Coney Island, where Rybak is based. The ground-up project is a three-building development set to bring 499 units to South Brooklyn, including 150 units of affordable housing.

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Aside from his property deals, the developer found himself in recent months at the center of one of the controversies dogging New York City Mayor Eric Adams. In December, it was revealed that Rybak employees and vendors contributed at least $71,000 to Adams’ mayoral campaign in 2019 that was not disclosed to campaign finance officials.

At the time of the fundraising event, Rybak was applying for a zoning change for a project in Brooklyn, where Adams was borough president.

— Holden Walter-Warner

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Rybak DevelopmentSergey Rybak
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nyc condo market