Gentrification On 86th Street

"The intersection of Lexington Avenue and 86th Street is arguably the crossroads of the Upper East Side of Manhattan, a transportation hub within easy walking distance of some of the costliest real estate in the city. Yet for decades it has resisted gentrification."

"On Lexington Avenue, the Extell Development Company plans to demolish the tenements to develop a glassy L-shaped building that will fill the block between 85th and 86th Streets and extend east along the south side of 86th Street, occupying about a third of the block. The project will contain about 150 condominiums (some with as many as five bedrooms) and 20 rental apartments."

"A separate entrance on 86th Street will lead to about 100,000 square feet of shops, including two basement levels. Gary Barnett, the president of Extell, said he was negotiating leases for large spaces with a major bookseller and a clothing retailer. Extell's retail broker, Gary Trock, a senior vice president at CB Richard Ellis, said the project would stimulate further development on 86th Street. 'It will mature this neighborhood tremendously,' he said. Extell is seeking an annual rent of $400 a square foot for the ground-floor space, a big jump for a street where rents were customarily less than $200 a square foot, Mr. Trock said."