Extell has signed a 99-year ground lease with the Shefa School to occupy the 75,000 s/f building at 17 West 60th Street in Lincoln Square.
The Jewish community day school, which provides specialized education for youngsters with learning challenges, paid $49.5 million, according to public records.
“We welcome Shefa to 17 West 60th Street and commend the school on the crucial role it plays in the community,” said Extell president and founder Gary Barnett. “We believe this property is the perfect long-term home for the school.”
JLL arranged to relocate the school from its current location on 29th Street to the 11-story property that Extell has owned since 2013 when it acquired the building as part of its acquisition of the Ring Portfolio.
Shefa was represented by Mitchell Konsker and Matthew Astrachan, vice chairmen; Daniel Posy, executive managing director, and Peter Michailidis, vice president, with JLL, along with Joseph Messina, vice chairman, and Jason Seidenberg, vice president, with JLL’s New York Consultancy/Advisory Group.
Attorneys for Shefa were Jonathan Adelsberg and Dena Cohen, partners, with Herrick, Feinstein LLP; Adam Endick, partner and Joshua Gelnick, associate, with Vinson & Elkins LLP, represented Extell.
“This transaction enables Shefa School to pursue its mission in an ideal location steps from Central Park and the 59th Street–Columbus Circle transit hub,” said Shefa head of school and founder Ilana Ruskay-Kidd. “This space will facilitate our effort to support our students strengths while helping them to overcome their challenges.”
“We are pleased to complete a transaction that helps to advance Shefa’s extraordinary work,” Astrachan said. “This new space will enable Shefa to expand its enrollment as it continues to empower students to become lifelong learners and critical thinkers.”
Extell acquired 14 NYC properties from F.M. Ring Associates in 2013, including 212 Fifth Avenue, 251 Park Avenue South and 17 West 60th Street.
Totaling one million square feet and concentrated in Midtown South, the portfolio was them worth up to $800 million.
