NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – The 121-year-old Flatiron Building, an iconic 22-story triangular structure located at 175 Fifth Avenue, is set to transform into luxury housing.
On Thursday, the owners shared their new plan for the Flatiron Building.
The change comes after a chaotic period that saw a mystery buyer win an auction for the building, only to vanish without completing the payment in March.
Now, the Brodsky Organization, a residential developer, is stepping in and purchasing a stake in the Flatiron and taking the lead on its conversion.
The project aims to carve out luxury living spaces, either for sale as condominiums or for rent.
Despite the challenges posed by the Flatiron's layout, its abundance of windows is expected to allow the conversion to residential use. However, significant internal changes will be made, including repositioning stairs and elevators, Dean Amro, a principal at the Brodsky Organization, told the New York Times.
The transformation is expected to take approximately three years, with one year dedicated to securing approval from the Department of City Planning and an additional two years for demolition and construction.
The ground floor, home to a T-Mobile store with a long-term lease, will stay there, while the upper floors will house around 40 residences, according to initial plans.
The exact layout and number of residences are still under consideration, with various floor plans being explored.
After the initial auction's highest bidder fell through, a follow-up auction took place.
During this second bidding round, a consortium headed by Jeff Gural, a prominent figure in New York real estate and previously a principal investor in the Flatiron, secured the building with a $161 million offer.
The Sorgente Group, another former stakeholder, is now also included in the new ownership.
Gural Acknowledged the current economic conditions and wider struggles facing office spaces in his interview with the New York Times and expressed his confidence that the Flatiron's new life as a residential building will attract people.
"There are going to be 40 people who want to live in the Flatiron Building,"Gural said.
