Towering change is in store at the northeast corner of Seventh Avenue and West 55th Street. Gary Barnett’s Extell is paying $94.4 million to buy the leasehold of the former Wellington Hotel from Richard Born’s BD Hotels, according to city Finance Department records.
The ambitious developer’s plans for the historic property one block south of Carnegie Hall were unknown. Barnett couldn’t immediately be reached.
But sources said that Extell’s move, when completed, will be just one of a complicated set of transactions with “many moving parts” that might include air rights for a much larger building than the 27-story Wellington, which has a mere 207,000 square feet on a 22,000 square-foot corner lot.
It was understood that a new hotel will likely be part of any new tower and that Born will remain a partner in the project.
We first reported that the 1902-vintage Wellington was closing in December 2021 when a demolition clause forced restaurants Molyvos and Park Cafe to close. The hotel went dark but no plans have yet been filed with the Department of Buildings.
Extell’s completed Manhattan projects include One Manhattan Square on the Lower East Side, the International Gem Tower on West 47th Street and Central Park Tower on West 57th Street.
BD Hotels owns 24 Manhattan inns and recently restored and reopened the long-closed, landmark Chelsea Hotel.