More twists and turns in the saga of the East Village's old P.S. 64 building, later the CHARAS/El Bohio community center and now a creepy run-down relic following the landmark's harsh treatment at the hands of owner Gregg Singer once his plan to build a 19-story dorm was denied. The building has been on and off the market as a lease or sale, and this week's Villager reports that a fella named Kim Barton looking to open a nonprofit school in the building was told the asking price is $40 million?a slight increase over the $3.15 million Singer paid for the place at auction. One reason for the huge markup? The pigeon droppings are all gone!!
"They're asking for $40 million to sell it," Barton said. "They started at $60 million a few years ago." Barton said he would try to negotiate the price down, given that the building is nothing more than a gutted space at this point and needs to be completely fitted out. While the building's top floor was once packed with pigeon guano, Barton — who has been looking at the building for the past several years — attested that it’s now all "clean as a whistle."
Told by The Villager that the building sold for a mere $3.15 million 12 years ago, he laughed and just shook his head incredulously.
Aaaaand scene. As for whether Barton will succeed in transforming the school into a, um, school, it looks like a long shot. Notes the paper, "Barton has zero funds right now."
· Not dorm tower, but Tower School pitched on E. 9th [The Villager]
· P.S. 64/CHARAS/El Bohio coverage [Curbed]