Extell Buys Midtown Office Building Facing Demolition for $25M
By Isabelle Durso February 18, 2025 2:35 pm
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Extell Development has purchased a Midtown office building previously facing demolition for $24.8 million, according to city records made public Tuesday.
Extell, through the entity 15 West 46, bought the 10-story building at 15 West 46th Street from the Bassalali and Hematian families — both prominent in New York City’s jewelry industry — which used the entity 15 West HF Group, records show.
Anita Hematian signed for the sellers, records show, while it was unclear who signed for the buyer.
KSR’s Albert Sultan brokered the transaction. Spokespeople for Extell and KSR did not immediately respond to requests for comment, while the Bassalali and Hematian families could not be reached for comment.
The Bassalali family, which owns Lali Jewels, and the Hematian family, which owns Effy Jewelry, bought the 1920-built property between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas in 2018, according to property records.
The families filed plans with the city’s Department of Buildings in September to demolish the building after it struggled to attract office tenants in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Crain’s New York Business reported at the time.
Insurance agency Network Exchange Services is currently a tenant of 15 West 46th, but it’s unclear whether it will stay under the building’s new ownership.
And, while it’s also unclear what Extell’s exact plans are for the site, the developer has been very active lately in developments around the city.
In December, Gary Barnett’s Extell filed plans for two new residential buildings on the former ABC television campus on the Upper West Side at 30 West 67th Street and 7 West 66th Street, as Commercial Observer previously reported. Those projects call for a combined total of 81 units.
On the same block, Barnett is building a 69-story, 127-unit luxury condo tower at 50 West 66th Street, where it landed a $1.2 billion loan from JVP Management in July to refinance the property, CO reported at the time.
On the commercial end, Extell in September partnered with Ingka Group, Ikea’s majority franchisee, to get to work on a new 29-story office and retail building at 570 Fifth Avenue, which the Swedish furniture brand will open a retail store inside.
Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.
