Gary Barnett buys AJC Building at 165 East 56th Street

What’s Gary Barnett to this point?

Extell Improvement purchased an workplace constructing on East 56th Avenue about two blocks over from the massive development project he’s stitching collectively on Park Avenue, The Actual Deal has realized.

Plans for the positioning weren’t instantly clear, but it surely may very well be the most recent transfer in Barnett’s mysterious multi-block assemblage that’s captured everybody’s consideration.

Extell paid $39 million to purchase the American Jewish Committee constructing at 165 East 56th Avenue. The AJC, which has lengthy occupied the 60,000-square-foot constructing as its headquarters, is planning to relocate and marketed the property as a candidate for a residential conversion.

The eight-story constructing is on the nook of Third Avenue. And because it’s two blocks away from Barnett’s huge Park Avenue website, it doesn’t appear as if any potential air rights may very well be transferred. 

It’s doable Extell may have purchased the constructing as a vacation spot to relocate tenants. Barnett is alleged to be trying to purchase a constructing at 111 East 54th Avenue, house to the non-public membership The Brook.

Observers had speculated that the developer needed to purchase that constructing and relocate The Brook to the previous Friars Club building at 57 East fifty fifth Avenue, which Extell just lately purchased for $19 million.

However a longtime doorman at The Brook advised TRD earlier this month that the membership just isn’t going wherever and the constructing just isn’t on the market.

Representatives for Extell and the American Jewish Committee didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark. A CBRE workforce led by Dan Kaplan and Doug Middleton organized the sale.

Extell earlier this month paid $500 million to purchase the event website at 405-417 Park Avenue. The corporate additionally purchased air rights from the Central Synagogue for $20 million and could also be taking a look at much more properties to develop the positioning.

The undertaking has about 527,000 sq. ft of growth as-of-right, which might develop as much as 700,000 sq. ft of rentable workplace house with extra air rights.