Parish Sold Its UWS Corner for $96M; Rockefeller Filed 340 Units

Rockefeller Group and Atlas Capital Group bought the Church of the Holy Name of Jesus site at 200 West 97th Street for a recorded $96 million, borrowed $55 million against it the same day, and 191 days later filed a 28-story, 340-apartment building.

Why it matters

The seller was a parish, not a developer, and the church is staying put. West Side Rag reports the congregation keeps operating from its building at 207 West 96th Street on the same block, and that the deal falls under a city incentive program that makes the new tower 25 percent affordable, with the rest market-rate. That is a lender-backed land play with a hard timeline: the loans and the filing are three records, not one press release. We first covered the filing itself; the deed and loans are new.

The numbers

The deed, dated March 4 and recorded March 20, runs from The Roman Catholic Church of Holy Name to RG 200 W 97th Owner LLC for $96,000,000 and covers Manhattan block 1868, lots 38 and 129. Two Valley National Bank mortgages carry the same March 4 date: $50 million and $5 million, $55 million together, or 57.3% of the price. The Department of Buildings filing is dated Sept. 11 and lists 28 stories and 340 dwelling units. By our count that is 191 days from the deed date, or about $282,000 of land cost per proposed apartment. One discrepancy: West Side Rag dates the sale to February, while ACRIS dates the deed March 4; we use the record.

What’s next

The new-building permit was still under review as of Sept. 16, per a Department of Buildings spokesperson quoted by West Side Rag, and the demolition permit to start work had not been pulled. Watch for the initial cost on the job record and a construction loan to replace the Valley National debt. For a comparable Manhattan site play, see Extell’s 110 East 55th Street purchase and demolition filing, and more in our New York coverage.