New York City Church Sells Air Rights for $23.9 Million

The Society of the Free Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Midtown Manhattan has finalized an agreement to sell 87,000 square feet of unused air rights to Extell Development for $23.9 million. Rector Sammy Wood signed the deal on behalf of the historic parish, which occupies property on West 46th Street. This transaction represents the final portion of the church's available development rights, following a previous transfer to the Durst Organization.

Church leadership plans to allocate the proceeds toward property maintenance and local community outreach programs, with 10% of the funds designated for the Episcopal Diocese of New York. Extell Development intends to utilize these rights to increase the scale of a planned 32-story commercial project at 570 Fifth Avenue. The developer is simultaneously pursuing additional air rights acquisitions from other nearby institutions to facilitate the construction of the large-scale development, which is slated to include a new IKEA location.