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By: Benyamin Davidsons
Extell Development has finally unveiled plans for the former Disney/ABC campus on the Upper West Side, which it has owned for over two years.
As reported by Crain’s NY, the Manhattan-based real estate development giant, led by Gary Barnett, recently filed plans with the NYC Department of Buildings to build a pair of residential projects at the site. The site at 30 W. 67th St. would be the new home of a 9-story building, spanning about 76,000 square feet to feature 50 residential apartments, at least some of which would be set aside as affordable housing, per the DOB filing. A 14-story office building is currently on the site, and would need to be demolished.
The second site, at 7 W. 66th St., would become a 7-story, 90-foot-tall building, spanning roughly 44,000 square feet, to include 31 residential apartments. This building would also include some low-income housing. There is also currently an office building currently on this second site, but here Extell would aim to convert it rather than knock it down, as per the filing which was first reported by PincusCo. In all, the project would include some 81 residential units.
Extell had purchased these buildings from real estate giant Silverstein Properties in 2022 as part of the former Disney campus for a total of $931 million. Per Crain’s, Silverstein had purchased the properties from Disney in 2018 for $980 million, as the entertainment giant sought to move its New York headquarters to Hudson Square. Disney’s new office at 7 Hudson Square, which has been dubbed the Robert A. Iger building, is already open to employees and is slated to serve as the company’s official base for its news, editorial and advertising divisions by next summer, as per a recent update posted on the Disney company website.
The sprawling Upper West Side campus purchased by Extell also includes the buildings at 147 and 149 Columbus Ave. and 47 and 77 W. 66th St. Extell has not yet filed building plans for those buildings.
Extell, founded in 1989 by Gary Barnett, focuses on residential, commercial, retail, hospitality, and mixed-use properties, mostly in Manhattan. The private company boasts a portfolio exceeding 20 million square feet, and was named by the Real Deal as the most active builder in Manhattan, with at least 11 active projects totaling over five million square feet in 2013. Extell, which has over 120 employees, is known for starting the “Billionaires’ Row” towers below Central Park, including the supertall Central Park Tower and the 75-story One57.
The new Upper West Side project is just the latest plan from Extell, which has had a busy year. Per Crain’s, in October, the company purchased 655 Madison Ave. for around $160 million, and recently filed plans to construct a 37-story mixed-use tower at that site. Also, Extell is immersed in plans to build a 32-story tower at 574 Fifth Ave., which would house Manhattan’s first Ikea store as its prime anchor. The massive retail/office tower on Fifth Avenue is slated for tenant delivery in 2028.
