By:  Hadassa Kalatizadeh

A Flushing development group is looking to reinvent the former Barney’s department store in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood.  As reported by Crain’s NY, the original 7-story building at 115 Seventh Ave, on West 17th street, had been purchased by a limited liability firm with ties to developer and architect Raymond Chan for $22 million in a recent deal.  The building seller in the Dec. 22nd transaction was Douglas Tiesi’s Argentic Investment Management, a NoMad-based financial services firm founded in 2013.  Argentic had taken over the site in the first quarter of 2023 through a foreclosure proceeding against the previous owner, as per city records.

The building had been marketed by Meridian Capital for $25 million, boasting that the currently 39,826 SF seven-story shell building built in 1924, would be delivered 100% vacant.  The marketing material added that an extra 15,000 SF of transferred air rights would be included for development from the neighboring Rubin Museum of Art at 142-154 West 17th Street.  The mixed-use building for sale, which features 153’ of wraparound frontage, could also potentially be developed for a variety of uses including residential, retail, or office, thanks to the favorable C6-3A zoning district.  The marketing went on to suggest that developers could opt to demolish the existing structure and construct a premier 54,826 SF mixed-use building in the prime location.

Per Crain’s, Josh Glodflam, a co-founder and principal at brokerage firm HighCap who represented the buyer in the purchase, said that Chan, the new owner, intends to complete the previously planned redevelopment, but will turn the project into luxury condominiums with only ground-floor retail.  Glodflam told Crain’s that, while the plans are not yet filed with the city Department of Buildings, Chan intends to develop the site including the 15,000 square feet of air rights.  The finished project would therefore span about 55,000 square feet of space in total.  Argentic had first put the unfinished building up for sale in early 2023 asking $30 million, but was wanting to sell the property before the end of the year, Goldfam added.

The building had previously been owned by developer Ben Ashkenazy, who purchased it in 2014 for $57 million and who made the plans to redevelop it into office and retail space. In 2017, Argentic provided a loan on the building for $46.2 million, but the loan was defaulted in 2020, which led to the lender taking ownership of the building.  The building’s initial owner was the Pressman family, which founded Barneys in 1923.  Per the Post, the family had sold the company and the building to Isetan of America.  When the store went into bankruptcy by Isetan, it was sold to the Rubin Museum of Art for $20 million as part of the legal proceedings. The museum showcases many of the 1,200 pieces of Tibetan and Himalayan art acquired by Donald and Shelly Rubin.

The board of the museum contemplated redeveloping the building to add exhibition space, but instead ended up selling the site to Ashkenazy.  “During the early years, there was hope the space [at 115 Seventh] would be redesigned as a public museum, but the museum trustees determined that the sale of the property was in the best long-term financial interest for the institution,” museum spokesman Daniel Hernandez, had said at the time.