Gary Barnett is seemingly unstoppable in Midtown, as he\u2019s acquired yet another property ripe for redevelopment.<\/p>\n
Barnett\u2019s Extell Development purchased the eight-story office building at 165 East 56th Street for $39 million, according to city records<\/a> made public Tuesday and sources close to the deal. The sale is part of Barnett\u2019s buying spree along or near the East 55th Street corridor, where he recently bought the Friars Club building<\/a> and is in talks to acquire two more properties.<\/p>\n SEE ALSO: Capstone Equities Acquires 140 Crosby Street for $51M<\/a><\/p>\n Extell purchased 165 East 56th Street, on the corner of Third Avenue, from the American Jewish Committee<\/a> (AJC), which had owned the property since 1959 and which will move its offices to a new location, a source said. The nonprofit\u2019s future address is unclear.<\/p>\n Barnett himself signed the deal for the buyer, while Elissa Fishman, chief financial officer at AJC, signed for the seller, records show.<\/p>\n A CBRE<\/a> team led by Daniel Kaplan, Doug Middleton and Justin Arzi brokered the deal for the seller, while Extell had no broker representation. CBRE declined to comment, while spokespeople for AJC and Extell did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n News of the deal comes after AJC put its building \u2014 which has an alternative address of 936 Third Avenue \u2014 up for sale in October 2025, with hopes to get roughly $40 million for the property, Crain\u2019s New York Business reported<\/a> at the time. The nonprofit said at the time it no longer made \u201ceconomic sense\u201d to own its building, according to the outlet.<\/p>\n Barnett\u2019s exact plans for the property were not disclosed, but the CBRE team marketed the property as an opportunity for an office-to-residential conversion eligible for tax abatements. A new residential building on the site could span about 89,000 square feet, while a mixed-use building could cover roughly 112,000 square feet, Crain\u2019s reported. The project also comes with the opportunity for a transit improvement bonus if the developer improves a nearby subway station, according to the outlet.<\/p>\n Besides AJC, other current tenants at 165 East 56th Street include Flagstar Bank and religious organization the Tikvah Fund.<\/p>\n The new deal is one of many recent Midtown acquisitions for Barnett, and it appears to be the latest part of the developer\u2019s plans to redevelop East 55th Street. Barnett purchased the Friars Club building<\/a> at 57 East 55th Street for $19 million in April, and he\u2019s in talks to buy 110 East 55th Street and 111 East 54th Street. Extell also bought 123,000 square feet of air rights<\/a> over Saint Thomas Church at 678 Fifth Avenue for $36 million last year.<\/p>\n While it\u2019s not yet clear what Barnett intends to do with his growing stack of properties, the developer is known for his ambitious projects in Midtown. Those include his $1 billion, 600-foot-tall office building at 570 Fifth Avenue, his 1,200-foot residential tower at the former ABC campus at 77 West 66th Street and his 70-story condominium project at 50 West 66th Street, among many others<\/a>.<\/p>\n