Eliot Spitzer is ready to say goodbye to a piece of his Manhattan portfolio, which may be able to command top dollar due to untapped potential.

Spitzer Enterprises and Winter Properties are marketing the 208-unit rental property at 800 Fifth Avenue in the Upper East Side, industry newsletter The Promote first reported. Newmark’s Doug Harmon and Adam Spies, who represented the developers in the sale of the Crown Building a decade ago, are leading the owners once more.

The luxury apartment building could be worth as much as $1 billion, sources told Bloomberg.

The property is being marketed as a development opportunity for those looking to turn the site into the latest high-end condo building. The developer could build approximately 350,000 square feet for residential use, people familiar with the matter told the outlet. 

Spitzer and Winter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A former governor of New York, Spitzer has spent the past decade invested in the real estate portfolio inherited after his father’s death in 2014.

Two years ago, Spitzer received the go-ahead from the Landmarks Preservation Commission to demolish an existing property at 985 Fifth Avenue to develop a 19-story luxury condo building with 26 units. 

While the property was able to be built as-of-right, the co-op board of the neighboring property filed an adverse possession lawsuit over a pit on the south side of Spitzer’s property, arguing that it had been a storage site for more than a decade.

The lawsuit tipped off a legal battle that initially pitted Spitzer against lawyer Adam Leitman Bailey, who filed for a protection order against Spitzer and accused the developer of intimidating a star witness in a heated phone call; Spitzer said he was telling the co-op board’s superintendent to stay off his property.

Spitzer later asked the court to discipline Bailey’s firm. Bailey’s role in the case appeared to wane amidst a rift with the co-op board’s other legal team.

— Holden Walter-Warner

Read more

Spitzer’s $1.8B sale of Crown Building hits records

Spitzer’s UES condo gets the green light 

Adam Leitman Bailey may be off Spitzer case