New York, August 16, 2012 – Rockrose Development Corp. announced today that it has purchased a prime, 19,475-square-foot commercial real estate development site within Midtown Manhattan’s Hudson Yards area where it has the ability to build a 528-unit residential rental building. The site also allows for an additional one million square feet of commercial development.
Located at 528-534 West 39th Street and between 10th and 11th Avenues, Rockrose purchased the parcel from its former owner Mercedes Benz.
The site is adjacent to the planned Hudson Yards Park and Boulevard, and is also adjacent to another Rockrose-owned parcel. The combined land area is 73,793 square feet, with total available development rights of 1.4 million square feet.
The selling price was not disclosed. Rockrose was represented in the transaction by Howard Greenberg and Anne DeMarzo of Ace Capital. Mercedes was represented by Michael Laginestra and Michael Geoghegan of CBRE.
Rockrose President Justin Elghanayan commented, “Market conditions in Midtown West are very favorable for the development of luxury high-rise rental buildings. Rockrose will explore all development options, including residential, office and hotel.” The site is also adjacent to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and is an ideal site for a large convention center hotel, which is allowable as-of-right.
H. Henry Elghanayan, Rockrose founder and CEO, said, “The combined parcels offer a very large floor plate for any conceivable project.” He added, “Rockrose was one of the earliest development pioneers in the Hudson Yards area. Our firm purchased several development properties in the area in 2001, four years before the district was rezoned by the City to encourage commercial development.”
Rockrose also developed two of the first residential high-rise buildings in Hudson Yards, 455 West 37th Street, with 394 rental units; and 505 West 37th Street, with 835 rental units.
