Another newsy bit we ran out of bandwidth for yesterday: the 92nd Street Y has put the Steinhardt Building, just off Central Park West at 35 West 67th St., on the market. For how much, you ask? Friends, this is the 92nd Street Y, and you can damn well bet they're going literary on your ass:
The seller has not established a specific asking price, but is a sophisticated, market sensitive seller willing to consider reasonable offers. The seller reserves the right to change, withdraw or revoke this offering without notice. The seller also reserves the right to accept or reject any expression of interest or offer regarding the property or offering, and/or terminate discussions with any entity, at any time with or without notice. Additionally, the seller has engaged CB Richard Ellis as its exclusive sales agent and will not recognize third-party brokers unless they provide a commission waiver agreement and proof that they are representing a principal.Which leaves us asking the only question we can: how much would you pay for the place? Listen for the ghosts of Makor concerts past, read analysis on the 92nd Street Y's own blog, and hit the jump for another photo and a press-releasy-type-thing that landed in our inbox yesterday. Then hit us with your best guess.
From a press release:
92nd Street Y to Sell Steinhardt Building; Makor and Daytime@ Programs Will Move to Y Headquarters on Upper East Side; CB Richard Ellis to Handle Sale NEW YORK: NY, May 17, 2006—As part of a multi-year strategic-planning process, the 92nd Street Y is selling the property at 35 West 67th Street known as the Steinhardt Building. The sale is being handled by CB Richard Ellis (NYSE: CBG). The two 92nd Street Y programs housed at the facility, Makor® and Daytime@™, will move to the92nd Street Y’s headquarters at 1395 Lexington Avenue on the Upper East Side. While that property is being reconfigured to accommodate these programs, a process expected to take three to five years, they will be relocated to a temporary site. Several possibilities are being considered.
The decision to sell the Steinhardt Building grew out of a strategic-planning process begun in 2005. One of the results of that process has been the 92nd Street Y’s decision to increase its focus on young adults, including young Jews, Makor’s primary constituency, to whom the Y already offers many cultural, educational and leisure activities. The Strategic Plan also reconfirms the Y’s commitment to Daytime@, which offers Baby Boomers activities designed to suit their interests and stage of life. Founded in 1874 by a group of visionary Jewish leaders, the 92nd Street Y is today a wide-ranging cultural, educational and community center serving people of all ages, races, faiths and backgrounds.
The Steinhardt Building was donated to the 92nd Street Y in 2001 by philanthropist and Y Board member Michael H. Steinhardt. At the time the property was valued at $16 million.
CB Richard Ellis’s Brian D. Gell, Vice Chairman; Timothy E. Sheehan, Senior Vice President, and Edward E. Midgley, First Vice President, are marketing the elegant 22,000-square-foot, five-story double townhouse located in the heart of the Upper West Side’s Lincoln Square area one block from Central Park. Among the nearby cultural institutions and amenities are Lincoln Center, Merkin Concert Hall, a branch of American Folk Art Museum, Lincoln Plaza and Walter Reade cinemas, and the Columbus Avenue and Broadway shopping districts. TheSteinhardt Building sits on an historic block that is home to the famous Café des Artistes and a group of early 20th-century apartment houses designed as combination artists’ residences-and-studios.
Constructed in 1904 as a home for elderly, indigent Swiss women and later turned into a residence for young Swiss women, the facility was completely refurbished in 1999 and given a contemporary interior design. It currently contains a 175-seat music performance space, a 72-seat screening room, a lecture/reception hall with seating capacity of 115, a café/bar and professional kitchen, a lounge/reading room, five multi-purpose classrooms, an exercise room with locker facilities, and an art gallery. Further information about the property can be obtained by visiting www.cbre.com/steinhardt.CB Richard Ellis recently assisted the New York Academy of Sciences, one of the nation’s oldest scientific organizations, with the sale of its historic building at 2 East 63rd Street and its move to Lower Manhattan. The firm’s Nonprofit Practice Group works with nonprofit clients to devise and execute community-driven, mission-sensitive real estate strategies that maximize market opportunities, improve operating efficiencies and minimize costs.
Makor (Hebrew for source and pronounced mah-CORE) offers New Yorkers in their 20s and 30s opportunities to connect with each other in an environment committed to cultural innovation, intellectual excellence and Jewish exploration. Programs range from cutting-edge music, gallery, literary and film events to talks, classes, recreational activities and community service initiatives. Daytime@ offers mid-aged adults and others with flexible daytime schedules a welcoming environment in which to explore the next phase of their lives and create community. Programs include talks, practical workshops, classes and outdoor activities.
· Listing: The Steinhard Building [CB Richard Ellis]
· Goodbye, Steinhardt Building. Hello, Lexington Avenue! [92nd Street Y Blog]