The company responsible for building a $100 million Manhattan apartment has just bought a Bronx multiplex for $41 million.
Development giant Extell has purchased the Whitestone Multiplex in the Bronx from Lightstone, according to city records filed yesterday (Tuesday).
The former movie theater complex in Throggs Neck which had been in business for 30 years before being permanently closed in 2013, was purchased by the Lightstone Group in 2012 for $30 million.
The company had originally planned to convert the nearly one million s/f site into an outlet mall-type complex, a la Woodbury Commons, but no plans were ever filed with the city.
This is the first venture into the Bronx by Extell, whose founder, Gary Barnett has been setting his sights further uptown in recent years. In April 2014, the company purchased a 68,676 s/f site at 125th Street and Lexington Avenue, in the heart of East Harlem, for $41 million.
That site includes 300,000 s/f of residential air rights and a total of 450,000 total buildable square feet with inclusionary housing bonuses. The company has not yet revealed what it plans to do with the site.
Lightstone, a company that got its start developing outlet malls and hotels across the country, has found success with new development residential projects, like its 199-unit Gantry Park Landing luxury rental building in Long Island City, and its forthcoming 700-unit residential complex along the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn.
Lightstone also has an extensive portfolio of retail, multifamily, hotel, office and industrial properties across the U.S.
The Bronx has been drawing more developers in recent years, especially to the southern portion of the borough. The Chetrit Group bought 1.5 acres at a waterfront site in Port Morris for $26 million earlier this year, and are planning six residential towers that would average 25 stories in height, while development firm Greystone is constructing a 43-unit townhome community on City Island in the Bronx, marking the first large-scale residential development on the island in 15 years.
Representatives from Extell and Lightstone did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.
Extell broke residential sales records in January this year when it sold an apartment for $100.5 million at its uber luxury One57 highrise on Central Pakr South. It was the expensive apartment ever sold in NYC.
