The hotly anticipated auction of 251 Park Ave. So. has been mysteriously postponed.
The 120,000 square-foot, prewar office tower at East 20th Street was to go on the block on Aug. 28 under a state Supreme Court order. But now we’ve learned the auction was abruptly pushed back to Oct. 9. No one could be reached over Labor Day weekend to say why.
The building’s ownership structure is an oddity — 50 percent is owned by little-known (except among lawyers and brokers) F.M. Ring Associates and the other 50 percent by always-in-the-news Extell Development Co., which bought its stake last December for $19 million.
Gary Barnett’s Extell claims the valuable building, 75 percent vacant although it’s smack in the hot Midtown South submarket, has been mismanaged. He sought a judicial sale, and the court appointed referee Joshua Steinto handle the so-called “partition sale.”
Extell in 2011 wrested control of another building it co-owned with brothers Michael and Frank Ring, 20 W. 47th St.
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What, we wonder, will Gov. Andrew Cuomo have to say about the Greek Archdiocese’s choice of Santiago Calatrava to design its new Church of St. Nicholas near Ground Zero.
Two weeks ago we wrote that the archdiocese has “definitely” chosen the notoriously pricey architect to design the new church on Liberty Street, to replace the original destroyed on 9/11.
We cautioned the decision might be contingent on negotiating a contract with Calatrava, who designed the gargantuan, years behind-schedule WTC Transportation Hub. But now we understand there is such a contract, and the deal is real.
However, an eerie official silence from all quarters continues to reign.
Cuomo’s view will be the most interesting. He backed the archdiocese’s long campaign to create a new house of worship much larger than the old one. He also lent his decisive clout to move the project back to 130 Liberty St., where the archdiocese wanted it, after the Port Authority tried switching it to 155 Cedar St., a block west.
Yet the governor has also bitterly deplored PA cost overruns at the WTC — especially for Calatrava’s Hub, which is now costing around $2 billion more than originally planned. This might be fun to watch.
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Three new hotels will soon add about 650 high-end rooms to West 57th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues. And all are expected to pump new pedestrian life into the block, thanks to glamorous new restaurants — at least two of them at sidewalk level.
The 208-room Quin, on the former Buckingham site at the Sixth Avenue northwest corner, is set to open in October. The 240-room Viceroy at 120 W. 57th St. is a few days off. And the super-luxury 210-room Park Hyatt in Extell’s One57 condo tower is to open in 2014.
The long block is home to such landmarks as Carnegie Hall, the Russian Tea Room and (although maybe not for long) Steinway Hall — and to three other hotels, the Parker Meridien, Hilton Club and Salisbury.
But it’s been a construction eyesore for years. The sidewalks can be quiet after dark, thanks to the mess and to stores that close up early.
Now, the Quin is about to launch a ground-floor corner restaurant called The Wayfarer partly helmed by ESquared’s Jimmy Haber. Work’s proceeding full-bore behind paper signs still touting a departed discount fur store, one of a succession of tacky pop-ups that dragged down the corner.
At the Viceroy, meanwhile, Gerber Group and Landmarc chef Marc Murphy will open Kingside in late October.
And although no details are available yet on the Park Hyatt, given its location at one of the world’s tallest, priciest and most publicized new condo towers, whatever eatery opens there is unlikely to be a cookie-cutter hotel food and beverage operation.