John Catsimatidis Buys $22.5M Chelsea Building to Expand Mixed-Use Project
By Isabelle Durso August 30, 2024 12:24 pm
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John Catsimatidis’s Red Apple Group is expanding its mixed-use development in Chelsea, city records filed this week show.
Catsimatidis signed a contract to buy the shuttered Jeanne D’Arc Residence at 253 West 24th Street for $22.5 million, according to a petition filed to the New York State Attorney General, who approved the sale.
The 59,250-square-foot building, which sits next to Red Apple’s development site at 280 Eighth Avenue, was built in 1896 and previously housed a Roman Catholic congregation known as the Sisters of of Divine Providence, records show.
“Since everyone has given their approval, we have just engaged an architect to determine the best use of this property,” Catsimatidis told Commercial Observer in a statement. “This process will probably take a number of months. Meanwhile, next door at 280 Eighth Avenue, we anticipate people will be moving into these rental units by next summer.”
A spokesperson for Jeanne D’Arc did not immediately respond to requests for comment. PincusCo first reported the sale.
Catsimatidis first filed plans to build a 64-unit building at 280 Eighth Avenue in May 2022 and in July scored a $57 million loan from J.P. Morgan Chase for its construction, CO previously reported.
While the plans do not include 253 West 24th Street in current records, Catsimatidis has expanded the project to include 100,000 square feet and 104 residential units, according to filings with the New York City Department of Buildings.
Catsimatidis may have made his name as one of the biggest grocers in New York City, where he owns supermarket chains Gristedes and D’Agostino, but he’s quickly become a major player in the development world.
In 2017, Red Apple completed a 32-story tower at Downtown Brooklyn’s 86 Fleet Place, part of the company’s four-building development along Myrtle Avenue. And in 2020, Catsimatidis leased his pair of 21-story, luxury residential buildings called Ocean Drive in Brooklyn’s Coney Island.
The grocer is also busy in Florida, where Red Apple is developing a luxury condo building at 400 Central Avenue in St. Petersburg, The Real Deal reported.
Update: This story has been updated to include a comment from John Catsimatidis.
Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.
