A landmark office building that has been under scaffolding since last year has officially started a new chapter as home to 60 of New York’s most affluent families.
Brodsky Organization, GFP Real Estate and Sorgente Group have submitted an application to convert 204,593 square feet of aging office space in the Flatiron Building into 60 luxury apartments, according to Department of City Planning records made public Monday.
See also: GFP and TPG submit plans for 800-unit office-to-residential conversion of FiDi
The joint venture hopes to get the green light from the city by the end of the year to begin interior renovations of the 21-story building at 175 Fifth Avenue, which would allow the developer to complete the project over the next 18 months and have homeowners able to move in by the end of 2026, according to an environmental assessment of the proposed renovations.
Sorgente and Brodsky, who are the joint venture’s leading managing partners, declined to comment. A spokesman for GFP, Jeff Gural, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A breakdown of unit types and sizes for the proposed project is unclear, but according to the application, the developers estimate the Flatiron Building could house up to 100 apartments averaging 1,998 square feet, making them larger than other office-to-residential conversions due to the building’s triangular shape and “unique floor plates.”
The developer only plans to build a maximum of 60 units across the second through 21st floors, all of which will be sold at market rate.
Meanwhile, the amount of vacant ground-floor retail space would be reduced slightly from 6,500 square feet to 4,807 square feet, according to the application.
As Commercial Observer previously reported, the future of the Flatiron Building has been uncertain for several years since its anchor tenant, British book publisher Macmillan, relocated to 120 Broadway in 2019. The building has remained largely vacant for years.
That sparked infighting among owners GFP, Sorgente, ABS Real Estate Partners and Newmark (NMRK), who claimed partner Nathan Silverstein was sabotaging plans for a $100 million renovation to boost rentals at the aging property.
They sued Mr. Silverstein in 2021, seeking a partitioned sale of the property, and a judge set an auction last year on the courthouse steps at 60 Centre Street.
But things took a sudden turn when the enigmatic Jacob Garlick, managing partner of Abraham Trust, outbid Gural and offered to buy the property for $190 million.
After Garlic failed to pay the $19 million deposit due after the bid, the property was put up for auction again on May 23, 2023, with GFP winning the bid for $161.5 million.
The Flatiron Building joined the city’s growing list of office-to-residential conversions last fall when Brodsky bought an undisclosed stake in the property and revealed plans to convert it into housing.
Brodsky Cos. CEO Daniel Brodsky said in a statement in October that the landmark property on the southwest corner of Madison Square Park is “perfect for housing,” but he didn’t offer details about the plans. As The New York Times previously reported, Brodsky suggested only that the renovation would take about three years and that the building would have about 40 units when complete.
The developers plan to replace the building’s historic windows with new ones and do other minor exterior work, plans that the Landmarks Preservation Commission already approved earlier this year, according to the application.
Plans for the Flatiron renovation will be submitted to the city’s Planning Commission for approval after the developer formally notifies the city of the proposal.
Abigail Nehring can be reached at anehring@commercialobserver.com.
