Ortiz and Tapper of Eastern Consol. procure air rights for $1.7 million

Eastern Consolidated has procured air rights from a building two blocks north of the development site at 537-545 W. 27th St. where a new condominium owned by Ekstein Development is rising. The air rights, which allow for the West 27th St. development to be larger by 5,478 s/f, traded for $1.7 million, which translates to $310 per s/f. Eastern Consolidated's Roberto Ortiz, senior director, represented the seller of the air rights, Crosstown Equities LLC (Ortiz sold them the building in 1996 for $960,000), while Eastern's Ben Tapper, director, represented the buyer, Ekstein Development, led by Erik Ekstein, a New York city-based developer. "This kind of transaction is unique to the Special West Chelsea District (the High Line)," said Ortiz. "Since 508-510 W. 29th St. is situated in the High Line Transfer Corridor, transfer of development rights to designated receiving sites within the Special District, in this case 537-545 W. 27th St., was possible." 508-510 West 29th St. is a 50-ft. walk-up with 29 rent regulated apartments. 537-545 West 27th St., originally a 123,435 s/f residential rental and condo development, will now comprise a total of 128,913 s/f. Founded in 1981, Eastern Consolidated has emerged as one of the country's preeminent full-service real estate investment services firms, combining expertise in the greater New York marketplace with a worldwide roster of institutional and private investor clients.