Disney Sells ABC News Building On Upper West Side

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — The Walt Disney Company has reached an agreement to sell a large portion of its Upper West Side campus — including recording studios for programs such as ABC News and "The View" — to real estate developers, the company announced this week.

Disney is offloading the Upper West Side properties to developers Silverstein Properties ahead of a planned development of a new company headquarters in lower Manhattan, the company announced Monday. The media conglomerate is not including the landmarked First Battery Armory on West 66th Street in the deal, Disney said.

Silverstein Properties was selected as buyer for its "track record of successful development in Manhattan," and a "explicit, stated commitment to respectfully engage with the city and the local community," according to a Disney press release.

There are reportedly eight different buildings and a parking lot included in the sale, Commercial Observer first reported. A Silverstein Properties spokesman told Commercial Observer that the sale is valued at $1.2 billion. Silerstein plans to eventually redevelop the properties, but have not released specific details according to the report.

Disney plans to lease the properties from Silverstein Properties for five years while it builds its new headquarters at 4 Hudson Square, according to a press release. The new Disney headquarters will take up the entire block bound by Hudson, Varick, Van Dam and Spring streets, according to the company. Disney purchased the rights to develop the property from Trinity Church Wall Street for $650 million in a deal that spans 99 years.

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