Lot Line Follies: New Condo at 241 Fifth Entombs Offices at 245 Fifth

(245 Fifth (L), 241 Fifth (C)- Pic by JPE)

There is a new condo in town, 241 Fifth Avenue, between 27th and 28th Streets. It is rising quickly, from the ground to its final height of 210 feet or 20 stories in the matter of a few months. For many next door at 245 Fifth the darkness of winter has come early, and it is permanent. A wall of south facing windows are now sealed and gone, just another glimmer of light, snuffed out by life, as-of-right, in New York City.

245 Fifth has had its share of troubles. The building was owned by Joeseph Moinian and Goldman Sach's Whitehall Fund, but Goldman sold out and Joe Sitt stepped in with a cash infusion in a transaction during the spring of 2011. Just a year later, coincidentally just as construction was about to start next door, it was reported that Moinian and Sitt were looking for additional cash, and may have allowed the $140 Million loan to go to special servicing because of risk of default. There is nothing on the net to indicate whether an arrangement could be worked out, but you can bet that reconfiguring the building around the wall of darkness hasn't made things any easier.

As for 241 Fifth, the details are sparse. I mentioned the height, and it appears topped. There will be 42 condo units expected to be priced starting at $2Mil.-$2.5Mil. (according to the Wall Street Journal), and will be built by Victor Homes. Victor, which has done a ton in Jersey and has Israeli roots, bought the property at the bank discounted price of $20 Mil.. It looks like a pretty good bet considering the rather dramatic upswing in the area over the past several years. My biggest question here is, are the lot line windows on the south side of the new building eventually going to see the same fate?

-Special thanks to JPE for sending in the pic.