Extell moves on Upper West Side Gristede’s development site

Extell chief Gary Barnett, master assembler of development sites, has done it again. The development company behind projects like Central Park Tower, One57, and One Manhattan Square is poised to close on a site at the corner of Broadway and West 96th Street that, along with air rights, will be able to accommodate a building of over 200,000 square feet, The Real Deal reports. The site is currently occupied by a Gristede’s grocery store and Chase bank.

The development company is in contact to purchase the two-story building at 262 West 96th Street, or 2551-2555 Broadway, and is also amassing air rights from co-op buildings along West 95th Street. TRD notes that the sale of the property is poised to close in October, when the site will ready for demolition.

Extell has a habit of snatching up grocery stores and harnessing their underused development rights. On 125th Street in East Harlem, the developer purchased a post office and Pathmark and filed demolition plans for the sites in September 2016. The company has yet to file plans for the site, but real estate experts say it can give way to 613,605 square feet of residential space, or about 600 apartments.

Meanwhile, on the Lower East Side, the company razed a Pathmark to make way for the fantastical 45,000-square-foot garden for residents of One Manhattan Square, where condos are currently on the market from $1.18 million.

• Extell in contract on key piece of $100M Upper West Side assemblage [TRD]
• All Extell coverage [Curbed]