Five Points’ Fifth Avenue Supertall Will Have Only 26 Units

Five Points Development’s skinny supertall in NoMad is alive and well, albeit with fewer units planned than ever.

An attorney for the firm helmed by Israeli developer Boris Kuzinez disclosed that the project at 262 Fifth Avenue would include only 26 units despite rising 860 feet, Crain’s reported. The representative was speaking at a community board meeting. NY Yimby first reported the building’s details.

It seemed like the project was unraveling a couple of years ago, when Kuzinez sold part of his assemblage, a 60,000-square-foot office building at 260 Fifth Avenue, for $52.5 million. However, construction is expected to wrap next year, although with 13 fewer apartments than were planned at the time. (Before that it was a 41-unit project.)

The units will average 3,200 square feet. At least one will be a quadruplex.

When completed, the skyscraper will be the skyline’s skinniest, with 56 stories on a lot of only 5,000 square feet. For comparison, Harry Macklowe and CIM’s matchstick-like 432 Park Avenue — which has faced claims of odd noises and defects potentially tied to its thinness — has a lot nearly seven times that size.

There has been some pushback against the Five Points project and others like it that provide little housing relative to their size and typically sell units to buyers who have many other homes. Critics also object to their unusual shape — a result of the high cost of land and the stratospheric prices that apartments with spectacular views can command.

Kuzinez is also seeking to include more parking spaces than permitted by zoning, an idea opposed by Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine.

An entity tied to the developer filed plans for the project in 2016, shortly after buying the lot and two adjacent properties for $59 million. The plans called for a 150,000-square-foot building with 11,000 square feet of retail space.

Kuzinez struggled to get financing, though. Also, broker Eran Elhanani sued the developer, seeking commissions on two air-rights transactions for the assemblage.

Five Points did not return Crain’s request for comment.

— Holden Walter-Warner

Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified Boris Kuzinez as a Russian billionaire. He was born in Latvia and emigrated to Israel more than 50 years ago.