A former tank factory may go tech.
Jared Kushner’s family Kushner Cos. and Gary Barnett’s Extell Development closed on the purchase of 80 West End Ave. this week for $84 million, The Post has learned.
The nearly empty industrial building was purchased directly from Walter & Samuels, which had paid $91.36 million in 2008.
The 235,000 square-foot 1912-era building has 15-foot floor-to-ceiling heights on each of six stories and a parking garage for 70 cars. The 7th- floor penthouse has 21-foot high ceilings and opens to two roof decks. A key element is that it is accessible from three of the building’s four elevators.
Sited between the West 63rd Street cul-de-sac known as Thelonious Sphere Monk Circle and West 64th Street, the property is near both Extell’s signature Riverside Center project and Lincoln Center.
Designed by architect Lansing C. Holden for developer Archibald D. Russell as a trucking garage, it was later used to build Sherman tanks. In 1986, it was divided into two condominiums with the upper floors targeted as a residential condominium, but that plan tanked with the economy.
Currently, only the second floor has tenants — the Metropolitan Opera and RCN — and both are near the end of their leases. Prospective media tenants, schools and museums have been touring since the companies went into contract, sources said.
Recently, The Post revealed that Kushner, led by Jared Kushner, partnered with RFR Holdings and LIVWRK in a $375 million deal to purchase six DUMBO buildings from the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
This week, The Post learned that an Invesco fund led by Wilbur Ross was seeking $75 million in equity for the deal.
None of the parties returned requests for comment.