Gary Barnett is bulking up again in Midtown.
The Extell founder is in contract to buy a prime development site at 405-415 Park Avenue, along with a chunk of air rights from nearby Central Synagogue, according to people familiar with the deal. Barnett is also in negotiations to acquire an adjacent office building at 110 East 55th Street, potentially stitching together what could become one of the most significant new assemblages in Midtown.
The Park Avenue sites are controlled by two ownership groups that have been quietly marketing the properties for either a sale or recapitalization. A joint venture between GDS Development and Swedish investor Corem Property Group AB owns 407–417 Park Avenue. Deutsche Bank’s asset management arm and MRP Realty bought 405 Park Avenue in 2016 (it’s unclear if Deutsche Bank or DWS, which was spun out from the bank in 2018, is the current partner). Meanwhile, the Parkoff Organization owns 110 East 55th Street.
The sale price was not disclosed, but sellers were seeking north of $500 million. The Park Avenue site, which sits between East 54th and East 55th streets, can support roughly 527,000 square feet of development as-of-right, or as much as 700,000 square feet of rentable office space with additional air rights, according to marketing materials. That does not include the East 55th Street property. Talk of the deal was first reported in The Promote.
The assemblage is steps from JPMorgan Chase’s new 2.5 million-square-foot global headquarters at 270 Park Avenue and near Citadel and Vornado Realty Trust’s planned tower at 350 Park Avenue.
A Newmark team led by Adam Spies, Marcella Fasulo and Adam Doneger negotiated the assemblage sale. CBRE’s Steve Siegel and a Fried Frank team advised on the air rights deal.
Spokespeople for Extell, GDS, Corem, MRP Realty, DWS and Parkoff Organization did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Deutsche Bank declined to comment.
If the deal closes, it would mark another major Midtown bet for Barnett, who has spent years amassing land and air rights along Park Avenue and in the Plaza District. While the ultimate use of the site is not known, the location and scale suggest a high-end office or mixed-use tower aimed at tenants willing to pay a premium to be near the city’s newest trophy developments.
Extell is also developing a 29-story office and retail tower at 570 Fifth Avenue, between West 46th and 47th Streets. Extell filed plans for 655 Madison Avenue that include commercial and office space as part of a taller mixed-use tower, though the primary focus is residential.