Istanbul Hospitality Group Buys 686 Lex [Updated]
By Lauren Elkies Schram May 13, 2014 2:11 pm
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Istanbul Hospitality, which owns The Marmara Manhattan Hotel on the Upper East Side, has purchased 686 Lexington Avenue near 56th Street, and will now be able to add the property to an assemblage and build a large extended-stay hotel, according to the property’s seller.
The deal was signed in December, closed on May 1 and was recorded with the city today.
Closing at $21.3 million, the transaction included the leasehold and the $13.7 million fee interest, according to Stephen Meringoff, chairman of Meringoff Properties, the seller of the five-story, 15,000-square-foot office building, which is home to a two-story Harley Davidson store. Meringoff Properties is the real estate management company affiliated with real estate investment company Himmel + Meringoff Properties.
Mr. Meringoff said his company has owned the building since 1981 and it made sense to sell it to Istanbul Hospitality, as that company had already purchased an adjacent vacant lot at 678-684 Lexington Avenue as well as the air rights from Meringoff Properties.
“Their development would be far more impressive and powerful and efficient if they had our land as well,” Mr. Meringoff said.
The director of marketing for The Marmara Manhattan didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. At 32 stories, The Marmara Manhattan, an extended-stay hotel at 301 East 94th Street, has one-, two- and three-bedroom deluxe suites and studios.
Update: This story was edited to reflect the total sale price including the leasehold and fee interest as well as comments from Stephen Meringoff.
