UPDATED, 5:32 p.m., Aug. 19: Maplewood Senior Living is developing an Upper East Side luxury senior living facility on behalf of real estate investment trust Omega Healthcare Investors, according to the developer.
As part of a $134 million project, Maplewood plans to build a 20-story property, a Maplewood spokesperson said.
Merchants Hospitality, a Lower Manhattan-based hospitality and development firm led by Abraham Merchant, assembled five parcels over a two-year period with plans for a condominium development. Merchant then flipped the contracts to Omega, which closed on the buildings last month for $112 million.
Merchants no longer has any involvement in the project, said Maplewood CEO Greg Smith.
The properties are located at 1802, 1804-06, 1808 and 1810 Second Avenue and 303-305 East 93rd Street.
Demolition is slated for early next year, with the tower being complete by 2018. Handel Architects is designing the 201,000-square-foot project, which will include an indoor pool and gardens.
Maplewood operates senior facilities in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Ohio. This will be its first project in New York.
Michael Besen and Rolfe Haas of Besen & Associates represented all five of the property owners. Ido Tzaidi of Epic Commercial Realty represented Merchants Hospitality in the flip.
Merchants and GEMS Academy, which sought to net-lease the site, have been engaged in an ongoing legal dispute tied to the site. GEMS Academy is no longer affiliated with the project. Former star real estate executive Adam Hochfelder, who went to federal prison in 2010 for larceny, works at Merchants as a consultant. – TRD