Spotted in The Real Deal: The Rabsky Group (an affiliate of the Brooklyn-based developer just bought the 65 Franklin site) has acquired 267 Broadway, the sweet little deco building between Chambers and Warren that has been on the market for ages. TRD says the developer paid $30 million for what could be a 45-story (600-foot) condo-slash-hotel.

These plans go back at least to 2017; The Real Deal says they are approved, but I will need to dig deeper to confirm.

I have since gotten the press release from the developer: it will be a mixed-use condo using 51,730 square feet of zoning floor area.

The Real Deal says that the previous owner — The Roe Corporation — defaulted on a $25 million mortgage for the site in 2023. (I can see that in ACRIS, the city’s finance database, but not the sale, so taking TRD’s word for it here.)

It seems the building was last sold in 1976 by the Orphan Asylum Society of the City of New York — established in 1806 as the city’s first private orphanage — which will take you down a fascinating path starting with Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton.

I have a soft spot for that little deco building, and one of the renderings from The Roe Corporation website shows it preserved as the base of the tower. (It is not landmarked, but were it up to me it would be!) I am also amazed how big the building can be as-of-right — basically the height of the Woolworth at 652 feet, which on a 50-foot base makes it a real sliver. Roe says the allowable floor area is 131,000 square feet.

The Roe Corporation site notes that City Hall Park gives the building protected views of the East River. And this is how they pitched it: “The site has approximately 50 feet of frontage along Broadway and is expected to be redeveloped into a mixed-use 45-story building with a boutique hotel at the base and for sale residential condos above. The 109-room boutique hotel is expected to be affiliated with a nationally branded hotel company. The hotel component is expected to offer a lobby lounge, an outdoor garden, and guest registration on the lobby level; a three-meal food and beverage outlet on the 2nd floor, guestrooms located on the 3rd through 14th floors, as well as the 16th and 17th floors; and an amenity level located on the 15th floor featuring a gym, a spa, and an outdoor terrace. The amenity space will benefit hotel guests and residents. The residential component will be located on the 19th through 45th floors. All of the units will have private outdoor space in the form of a terrace or balcony. In total, the proposed development will contain ±153,720 square feet of above grade gross building area.”