Victor Sigoura’s Legion Investment Group has edged closer to realizing a luxury condo project near Gramercy Park, with a deal for a four-parcel assemblage along Third Avenue.
The developer bought 252-258 Third Avenue from Korean investor Hee Nam Bae, records show, plus air rights from a neighboring co-op building for a total of $72 million.
The project might ultimately mint Sigoura a coveted key to Gramercy Park, unlocking the private garden’s iron gates and a premium price from eventual condo buyers — if he can finish the job and buy the neighboring co-op building at 38 Gramercy Park North.
Legion cleared a hurdle in its race to buy the property after it dispensed with a disgruntled co-op unit owner, a real estate professional who sued to stop the air rights deal and got a $1.5 million buyout for his efforts.
A deal to buy the 38-unit co-op building, which hit the market in 2022 asking $50 million, could amount to the largest new development project along Gramercy Park in more than a decade, and may catapult Legion into the higher realms of New York City development.
The most direct comparison for its project is the Zeckendorfs’ 18 Gramercy Park South, which they chose “because of the park” as their follow up to 15 Central Park West.
“Giving a park key to each buyer seemed like a nice closing gift,” William Lie Zeckendorf told the Times more than a decade ago. Major new developments are exceedingly rare along Gramercy Park, perhaps only second to Central Park in its ability to command a price premium.
Resales in the Zeckendorf building have averaged around $4,000 per square foot.
Gindi Capital is an equity partner on Legion’s project, according to a company representative. The pair worked together on 109 East 79th Street, a 31-unit condo building which Legion completed in 2021 with a sellout price of $450 million.
Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group is representing Legion on its Gramercy development.
The $72 million deal pencils to $920 per square foot, according to Duane Burress, a former senior analyst at Newmark who specializes in land and air rights valuations.
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JP Morgan Chase loaned $33.5 million for the acquisition. The bank declined to comment.
Legion recently completed a separate $95 million assemblage with its purchase of 1128 Madison Avenue on the Upper East Side, a recent hotbed of luxury construction.
The number of luxury condo sales ticked up in February for a third straight month of growth, according to data firm Marketproof. However, since July, fewer new luxury condos have sold than during a pre-pandemic averaging dating back to 2015.
An early estimate by Legion figures it can build 48 condo units on its Third Avenue assemblage while converting the co-op building may provide for an additional 13 units.