Extell Closing In On UWS College Building, Report Says

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — The developer behind the controversial building that would be the tallest tower on the Upper West Side is assembling another development site in the neighborhood and is closing in on a key property, according to reports.

Extell Development will buy the New York Institute of Technology building on the corner of Broadway and West 61st Street, real estate publication The Real Deal first reported. The deal has not closed, but is expected to be valued around $90 million, according to the report.

The Real Deal first reported on NYIT's efforts to sell the Columbus Circle-area property earlier this year. The building currently serves at New York Institute of Technology's satellite campus in New York City, but the school is based on Long Island. NYIT has owned the property since 1975, city finance records show.

Extell will likely seek to redevelop the existing 12-story building on the corner of West 61st Street and Broadway. The same developer is currently building the supertall Central Park Tower — which recently topped out as the world's largest apartment building — just south of the site on West 57th Street.

The deal for the NYIT building shows that Extell doesn't have reservations about building on the Upper West Side despite the fact that he's currently engaged in a legal battle over the firm's proposed 775-foot-tall tower at 50 W. 66th Street.

Read the full Real Deal report here.