Continuum Buys Midtown Church Property on East 35th Street for $66M

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Ian Bruce Eichner’s Continuum Company is taking over church-owned property on Midtown’s East 35th Street.

Continuum has purchased the Community Church of New York’s property between 26 East 35th Street and 34 East 35th Street — which includes a rent-stabilized apartment building and a homeless shelter — for a total of $66.2 million, according to city records made public Friday.

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Eichner himself signed the deal for the buyer, while Jonathan Birchall from the church signed for the seller, records show. Spokespeople for Continuum and the church did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

This comes after Continuum signed a $69.5 million ground lease with the church in December 2021, as The Real Deal previously reported. That deal has now been converted into a sale.

SavillsGeoffrey Newman, who TRD reported arranged the ground lease, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this trade.

The new deal probably comes as a relief for the Community Church of New York, which had been facing bankruptcy, according to TRD. Before the deal closed, the church was able to buy a nearby townhouse for $6 million to relocate its renters and the shelter, TRD reported.

Now, Continuum has plans to develop the site into a roughly 185,000-square-foot condominium building with between 130 and 150 units, TRD reported. The new building is set to begin leasing in 2025 or 2026.

This is far from Eichner’s first housing project in New York City.

Just this week, Continuum reached a deal with the New York City Council for a 355-unit residential development across the street from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden at 962-972 Franklin Avenue in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, as Commercial Observer previously reported.

Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.