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A well-known Upper West Side property has changed hands for the second time in just two years, marking another chapter in the long saga of a former private school building.
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Property records show that Apex Investments, a Manhattan-based real estate firm, recently purchased the five-story building at 160 West 74th Street for $26.4 million. The deed, filed Thursday, lists Kasra Sanandaji, a principal at Apex, as the signatory.The seller, Bayrock Capital, had acquired the 16,000-square-foot property in 2023 for $14 million, at the time with plans to convert it into residential units. But that vision was short-lived. Within months, city officials revealed a new direction for the site — one that would shift its use from education to social services as a women’s shelter.
According to Crain’s New York Business, which first reported the sale, Volunteers of America has executed an updated lease with the new owners and will continue to serve as the operator under a contract with the Department of Social Services.
Plans submitted last week to the Department of Buildings by Shia Mendel, listed as a representative for the new owner, outline a proposal to convert and enlarge the property into a six-story, single-gender transitional housing facility.
The project was originally expected to open in fall 2024, though the timeline has been pushed back–giving some locals a bit more time to protest the plan. Volunteers of America did not provide a new opening date, and neither Apex Investments nor Bayrock Capital responded to Crain’s requests for comment.
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