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Developers battle for nine-acre Manhattan lot NEW YORK (AP) - A nine-acre Manhattan lot home to a 99-year-old steam-generated power plant has come onto the market, sparking a battle between two developers who want build luxury apartment towers and offices there.
The property is being offered by the utility Consolidated Edison Co. for a half-billion dollars, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
A buyer hadn't been selected for the four parcels of land, which sit just south of the United Nations on the East River.
On Monday, developer Sheldon Solow and investment bank Morgan Stanley Dean Witter appeared to have won the hotly-contested 14-month-long auction, according to unnamed real estate executives cited by The Times.
But on Tuesday, Mortimer B. Zuckerman, the chairman of Boston Properties, and his partners - developers Leonard Litwin and Donald Zucker - made an unexpectedly better offer, causing a new round of tense negotiations.
Both parties are seeking to build up to five million square feet of luxury apartment towers and office buildings on the Manhattan site.
Robert P. Stelben, Con Ed's treasurer and the overseer of the auction, said talks would continue this week.
The scarcity of large construction sites in Manhattan drew dozens to the auction process.
The land sale is part of Con Ed's state-mandated transformation from a regulated monopoly to a company transmitting and distributing power and gas provided by other companies.
Copyright 1999 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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