Cohen Brothers to buy St. Bart’s air rights to redevelop 3 East 54th Street
3 East 54th Street (Credit: Google)
Cohen Brothers Realty through the entity 3 East 54th New York LLC signed a memorandum of contract with St. Bartholomew’s Church to transfer 58,800 square feet of development rights from the church at 321 Park Avenue in Plaza District to Cohen Brother’s 3 East 54th Street. The memorandum was signed on June 5, 2020 and was recorded on June 15, 2020.
Cohen Brothers Realty is advancing its plan to demolish and rebuild its midblock, mid-century office tower, 3 East 54th Street, utilizing the East Midtown rezoning passed in 2017, which allowed for the transfer of development rights throughout the rezoned district. In 2016, Cohen Brothers wrote a letter it sent to the city expressing interest in demolishing and rebuilding a tower on the site, saying “A mixed-use development containing commercial, residential, and possibly hotel uses would realize the site’s potential by providing high quality office space for smaller firms that like full-floor offices and, potentially, by strengthening the East Midtown hospitality market.”
The purchase and sale agreement for the 58,800 square feet of transfer development rights was dated June 5, 2020. Charles Cohen was signatory for the developer. St. Bartholomew’s sold 50,000 square feet of development rights to JPMorgan Chase at a cost of $16.75 million in April 2019 for the bank’s redevelopment of 270 Park Avenue. Then, in July 2019, JPMorgan Chase assigned 36,188 square feet of those rights to Rudin Management for its redevelopment of 415 Madison Avenue.
Direct link to Acris document. link
Direct link to the city’s interactive property map, ZOLA. link