Extell Files Plans to Demolish Two Buildings on ABC’s Former UWS Campus

Gary Barnett has more ideas for Extell Development’s takeover of the former Walt Disney Company-owned ABC television campus on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

Anthony Abbruzzese, managing director at Extell, filed plans last week to fully demolish two more former ABC buildings near Lincoln Center, including the 10-story building at 141 Columbus Avenue and the seven-story building at 155 Columbus Avenue, according to filings with the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB).

Both permits for full demolition, which were initially for interior demolition of the properties, have already been approved, the filings show.

Barnett purchased the entire Disney campus — which includes the two Columbus Avenue buildings and 77 West 66th Street, 30 West 67th Street, 47 West 66th Street and 7 West 66th Street — from Silverstein Properties in 2022 for a total of $931 million, property records show. Altogether, the properties comprise more than 1 million square feet of office space.

It’s unclear what Extell’s exact plans are for the soon-to-be-demolished 141 and 155 Columbus Avenue, but at two of its other ABC sites — 30 West 67th Street and 7 West 66th Street — the developer is planning two new residential buildings with a combined total of 81 apartments, as Commercial Observer previously reported.

Spokespeople for Extell and Exdem Engineering Services, the engineer listed on the projects, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The planned demolitions, which stretch from 141 to 147 Columbus Avenue and from 149 to 155 Columbus Avenue, are set to cost at least $4.6 and $5.5 million, respectively, according to New York Business Journal, which first reported the news.

Disney’s ABC had used the two properties since 1957 and 1978, respectively, for both its ABC7 local programming and “Good Morning America,” NYBJ reported.

When Disney started moving employees out of its Upper West Side campus and into a newer office space at 7 Hudson Square last year, Extell jumped on new plans for the old campus.

Plans include a 50-unit residential building at 30 West 67th Street, a 31-unit residential building at 7 West 66th Street and a 1,200-foot-tall tower at 77 West 66th Street. Extell also filed plans to raze the 14-story office building at 47 West 66th Street earlier this year, according to the DOB.

Meanwhile, Extell is nearing completion on its major $1.2 billion luxury tower development on the same block at 50 West 66th Street, which is set to become a 69-story, 127-unit condo tower, as CO previously reported. Construction of the tower finished in June 2024, and half of the building’s units had been sold as of July 2024.

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