Gary Barnett Files Plans For Upper West Side Supertall
Extell Development’s plan for a controversial tower in one of Manhattan's most development-averse neighborhoods is coming into focus.
The Gary Barnett-led firm aims to build a 1.2M SF supertall at 80 W. 67th St. that will yield 430 apartments across 86 stories, according to a new filing submitted to the city’s Department of Buildings.
The project would also have 25K SF dedicated to commercial use, including ground-floor restaurant and retail space and a parking garage, according to scope of work specifications available on the DOB Now portal.
At 1,198 feet, the development will tower more than 400 feet above the neighborhood's next-tallest building, a condo building on the same block, also developed by Extell, that was 70% sold in less than a year.
Extell didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Construction plans for the Lincoln Square supertall, which has an alternative address of 77 W. 66th St., are the latest details of Extell's proposed redevelopment of the former Walt Disney Co. and ABC campus on the Upper West Side.
Silverstein Properties sold the property to Extell, along with the adjacent 54 W. 67th St., for $931M. Extell also owns the air rights for the properties surrounding the proposed developments and last year filed permits for a 25-story building at 37 W. 66th St.
But the developer’s plans for the campus have been the target of some of its celebrity neighbors.
Actor Tony Danza has led protests against the proposed tower between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West, arguing that five years of construction resulting in a tower that will cast shadows over Central Park shouldn’t take place, Curbed reported.
Barnett proposed setting aside 20% of the apartments as affordable housing to quell local concerns, with the majority of those 121 units functioning as senior housing studios.
That hasn’t been enough for the neighborhood’s city council member, Gale Brewer, who has asked for 30% of units to be reserved as affordable housing. The local community board has also asked that most of the affordable apartments be two-bedroom units to cater to families.
But Extell’s development has as of right zoning that would permit a 1,500-foot tower with no affordable units, meaning the developer doesn’t have to compromise on its vision.
“If that’s the starting point, I’m not sitting down,” Barnett said at a Community Board 7 meeting in October, Spectrum News NY1 reported.
Barnett has already scored some of the funding for the developments, netting a $1.2B preferred equity investment from an unnamed hedge fund, Bisnow reported in September.
That capital could go toward any of Extell’s ambitious portfolio of projects, including a Times Square commercial tower known as The Torch and the project that will deliver Manhattan’s first Ikea under an office tower at 570 Fifth Ave.
While Barnett is still the visionary behind Extell, last month he named Andrew Chung, former head of Innovo Property Group, CEO of the development firm. Chung is now part of a companywide pivot Barnett disclosed to investors last year, saying Extell would focus more on cash-flowing developments rather than condos.
