Extell Development to build hotel in New York's Diamond District

Extell Development paid $62.5 million to acquire 572 Fifth Ave. in New York City as part of a plan to expand in the city's Diamond District with a new hotel development project.

Braha Industries was the seller in the transaction. The property is a six-story building with roughly 12,000 square feet of space.

Extell Development is led by president and founder Gary Barnett, who previously had dealings in the diamond business, and therefore has ties to the area. This past November it was revealed that Barnett has been working on developing a hotel in the area, beginning with the $40-million purchase of a building located at 32 West 48th Street. Extell purchased several neighboring buildings as well as air rights for a grand total of $85 million, with plans to build a hotel with several hundred guestrooms.

Development on the hotel is expected to begin in mid-2019, linking West 48th Street to West 47th Street. This development is taking place in conjunction with the construction of the $4 billion Central Park Tower, an ongoing project of Barnett's.