Kinsmen Wants Church Air Rights on $44.7M East Village Lots
The city's deed index shows the purchases from 2018 to 2022, and a June 2026 zoning lot filing that ties the assemblage together.
Kinsmen Property Group, the East Village developer led by Ari Zagdanski, has paid at least $44.7 million for four Third Avenue lots on record, and Crain’s reported Tuesday that the project is seeking St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery’s unused air rights to build bigger. The transfer would feed a residential building of up to 160,000 square feet at 50-64 Third Avenue.
Why it matters
Air rights are the cheapest way to add floor area in the East Village, where the zoning caps height and the lots are small. The Landmarks Preservation Commission reviewed the transfer from the church at 131 East 10th Street in July. Under the plan, 20 percent of the proceeds go into escrow for church repairs estimated at $5 million to $5.3 million. The city deed record shows who assembled the receiving site: one buyer, 62-64 Third Ave L.P., on all four deeds, which matches the ownership of 62 and 64 Third reported by EV Grieve. The filings do not say how many square feet the church’s rights add, and the sale price of the rights is not public.
The numbers
The 2018 deeds paid $6.88 million for 62 Third and $16.12 million for 64 Third, $23 million together. The same buyer then added 60 Third for $11.725 million and 58 Third for $10 million in early 2022, for $44.7 million across the four. On July 6, 2026 the city recorded a zoning lot description spanning seven lots on block 556, with a $2 million easement tied to air rights on 64 Third. DOB NOW shows a 13-story new building job at 50 Third with March 2026 entries, about 7.7 years after the first deed.
What’s next
Watch for a City Planning or community board filing that fixes the floor area the church’s rights add, and for the recorded transfer deed that would show the price. Foundation and excavation work at 50 Third is already moving, so the air rights decide how tall the building gets, not whether it starts. More: New York →
On the record
Primary record
- Public recordCity deed records show the same buyer, 62-64 Third Ave L.P., paid $44,725,000 for four lots on the Third Avenue blockfront: $6.88M for 62 and $16.12M for 64 (recorded Aug. 1, 2018), $11.725M for 60 (recorded Jan. 7, 2022) and $10M for 58 (recorded Feb. 9, 2022).View the record on a836-acris.nyc.gov
- Public recordOn July 6, 2026 the city recorded a zoning lot description and a declaration covering block 556 lots 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26 and 28, signed by 62-64 Third Ave L.P. and Isfahany Realty Corp., plus a $2M easement flagged for air rights on lot 20 (64 Third Avenue). The air rights sought from the church would stack on top of that assembled zoning lot.View the record on a836-acris.nyc.gov
- Public recordDOB NOW lists a 13-story new building job, M01373185, at 50 Third Avenue with entries from March 2026, after full demolition jobs on the old five-story building at 50 and the three-story building at 54 were signed off in 2024. The earliest recorded purchase is about 7.7 years before that filing.View the record on a810-dobnow.nyc.gov
- NYC ACRIS, deed 202112310025800160 Third Avenue deed, $11,725,000, recorded Jan. 7, 2022
- NYC ACRIS, deed 202202010097600158 Third Avenue deed, $10,000,000, recorded Feb. 9, 2022
Also reported by
- Crain's New York Business, Ari Zagdanski East Village developmentOct. 13, 2026 report on the push for St. Mark's air rights
- NY YIMBY, Air rights transfer from St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery heads to Landmarks reviewLPC review of the 131 E. 10th St. transfer to 50-64 Third Avenue
- EV Grieve, St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery looks to sell air rightsLocal coverage of the transfer and the escrow terms