Rockefeller Group files plans to demolish shuttered UWS Catholic school, no NB plans yet

The Rockefeller Group filed plans last week to demolish two buildings on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, at 200 West 97th Street at the corner of Amsterdam Avenue, and 214 West 97th Street, filings with the New York City Department of Buildings showed. Between 200 West 97th Street and 214 West 97th Street is 204 West 97th Street, which is not involved in the demolition plans. All three buildings have long been owned by the affiliates of the Roman Catholic Church. All are now controlled by an affiliate of Rockefeller Group, RG 200 W 97th Owner LLC, an ownership document filed with the DOB showed.

No new building plans have been filed for the parcels, and city property records do not reflect a change in ownership either by deed or ground lease, as of publication, for any of the parcels.

Extell Development in partnership with ABS Partners Real Estate plans a mixed-use tower at 231 West 96th Street, which has an alternative address of 2560 Broadway, on the same tax block, Bisnow reported, citing Tel Aviv Stock Exchange documents. No new building plans have been filed for that parcel, as of publication, with the DOB.

Timothy Flynn, a senior vice president at Rockefeller Group, filed the demolition job applications, M01310296 and M01310336, which were dated December 19, 2025. While the two buildings are not adjacent on West 97th Street, they are connected in the interior portion of the block and are part of the same tax lot. The two buildings set for demolition have been owned for more than 100 years by the Roman Catholic Church. They were home to the Holy Name of Jesus school, which closed in 2013. The school building is adjacent to the Holy Name of Jesus – St. Gregory the Great Roman Catholic Church, at 207 West 96th Street, which is an open and active parish.
The DOB applications call for the full demolition of the 62,400-square-foot, four-story building at 200 West 97th Street, and the full demolition of the 12,000-square-foot, three-story building at 214 West 97th Street.

The property

The property in Upper West Side has a total buildable of 141,992 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has two buildings with frontage of 106 feet and is 175 feet deep with a total lot size of 18,882 square feet. The zoning is R9 which allows for up to 7.52 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $2.7 million.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has received $150 in OATH penalties in the last year.

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months.

The neighborhood

In Upper West Side, The majority, or 59 percent of the 52.9 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 23 percent of the space. In sales, Upper West Side has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $939.7 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 11th highest in Manhattan. For development, Upper West Side has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 21st highest in Manhattan. It had 1.9 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 4 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of five of the six commercial properties representing 250,062 square feet of the 303,367 square feet. The largest owner is Fortune Society, followed by Nathan Benelyahou and then Othon Mourkakos. There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 758 Amsterdam Avenue, PincusCo identified three commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those three items, two were sales above $5 million totaling $49 million. The most recent of the two was Breuer Herskowitz registered which bought the 10,570-square-foot, 12-unit rental (C7) on 734 Amsterdam Avenue for $6.2 million from Bruce Haley on December 3, 2024. One of those three items was a loan which Nathan Benelyahou borrowed $30.2 million from Bank of America secured by the 57,300-square-foot, 34-unit rental (D3) on 226 West 97th Street and one other property on June 25, 2024.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.