Feil Spinning Wheels Once More on Billionaires’ Row

At first, the Feil Organization didn’t succeed in its Billionaires’ Row conversion. It’s ready to try, try again.

Feil filed plans for a major alteration at 140 West 57th Street, its long-dormant property in Midtown West, PincusCo reported. The alteration application is in service of a conversion from a 14-story office property to a 47-unit residential building, maintaining the same height.

The Beaufort dates back to 1907, when it opened as a studio apartment building for artists; it received landmark designation at the turn of the century. But its future has been in question for years.

Feil bought the building from Harry Macklowe in 2009 for $59 million, and in 2015, brought in Goldstein Hill & West to study the feasibility of converting the property into residential use. That study revealed that about 11,000 square feet of residential space could be added on top of the building, according to Feil, for a total of roughly 80,000 square feet. The property could then be converted into 20 residential units with a duplex apartment on top.

By early 2016, Feil stopped renewing office leases and began clearing space for a conversion. It later learned, however, that a preexisting zoning lot development agreement limited the building’s floor area. Despite the ZLDA being public record, Feil sued the project architect for $12.6 million.

In 2018, Feil put the vacant office building on the market, pitching it as a potential residential conversion or boutique office renovation.

By 2020, Feil was back to the drawing board, this time with MdeAs Architects leading the design. A proposal at the time called for the renovation of the property, seemingly keeping it as office space, according to YIMBY.

An architect with MdeAs is listed on the latest Department of Buildings job application. The initial project cost for the alteration is $17 million, though that’s subject to change with subsequent applications.

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

At the start of the year, Feil was hit with a foreclosure lawsuit filed by Wilmington Trust over contractors’ unpaid mechanics liens placed on a struggling Loop office building at 10 South LaSalle Street in Chicago.

— Holden Walter-Warner