David Burris, Investor Group Buy Mixed-Use Upper East Side Site for $28M

Terra Holdings’ David Burris and a group of investors have made a $28.1 million covered land play on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. 

The acquisitions secured three low-lying, pre-war buildings at the corner of Lexington Avenue and East 61st Street, encompassing 780–782 Lexington Avenue and 136 East 61st Street. The trio of mixed-use properties totals approximately 16,244 square feet, including 11 retail units and eight apartments. 

The purchase, made via the entity 780 Lex Realty Associates, is not connected to Terra or its subsidiary Brown Harris Stevens. Terra is, however, the owner of the 20-story office building next door at 770 Lexington Avenue.

A Lee & Associates NYC team of Chris Varjan, Peter Braus, James Wacht and George Steffani represented both sides of the deal, which was made across three separate transactions in late August. Varjan described Burris’s purchase as “long-term, patient capital.”

“I think, for David, it was a play to get control of the whole blockfront along Lexington, which is not something you can often do,” Varjan told Commercial Observer.

The family of the late real estate investor Robert Siegel, who owned the site for more than 50 years, sold the three-building assemblage. While the new owners have no immediate plans for redevelopment, Varjan said they intend to reposition the retail spaces.

Sprinkles Cupcakes closed its final location at 780 Lexington Avenue late last year, and the corner storefront at No. 782 — previously occupied by a smoke shop — also remains vacant. Current tenants across the three properties include Peppino Tailors, Orva Shoes, Retail Therapy, Elite Barbers NYC and hat shop Suzanne Couture Millinery. 

Burris did not respond to a request for comment.

Emily Davis can be reached at edavis@commercialobserver.com.