There’s a new property on the market for a deep-pocketed buyer to create a 40-foot-wide townhouse in the heart of Greenwich Village’s historic district — pending approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the Department of Buildings — for $6.64 million.
The offering is at 14 and 16 Gay St. It’s part of a portfolio of five buildings that developer Lionel Nazarian bought for around $12 million last year, which were once owned by the late Celeste Martin.
The eccentric actress and activist owned more than $25 million worth of property at the time of her death, at age 98, in 2019. One of her properties, known as “the pink stucco townhouse” at 114 Waverly Place, was purchased by Robert and Cortney Novogratz for $8.5 million in 2019.
But alleged illegal work in the basement of 14 Gay St. apparently forced the DOB to deem the 196-year-old, Federal-style row house as unsafe. The department then ordered it to be demolished in January.
The controversial demolition outraged locals and activists. At the time, Councilman Erik Bottcher, State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Assemblywoman Deborah Glick and others held a press conference demanding a stop to it.
In a statement, Bottcher said, “I demand accountability for the people who allowed this historic building to deteriorate to the point of imminent collapse. Nothing is more important than human life and safety, but the city shouldn’t allow bad actors to get away with reckless construction practices that result in demolition.”
Nazarian, who had previously been called out for allegedly trying to force out rent-regulated tenants from an East Village building, maintained he did nothing wrong.
The now-empty lot at 14 Gay St. can also be purchased separately for $3.65 million. No. 16 Gay St. is a nearly 18-foot-wide, four-story Federal-style rowhouse that is around 1,800 square feet and could also be sold separately for $2.99 million.
If plans are approved, a buyer could create a 4,500-square-foot spread with a garden and an additional 1,500 square feet (by way of a finished cellar), all on a “curvy hideaway lane” between Waverly Place and Christopher Street, according to the listing.
Author Ruth McKenney formerly lived at 14 Gay St. — paying $45 a month in 1934 — in a basement apartment with her sister that became the setting for a series of New Yorker stories in the 1930s and the book, “My Sister Eileen,” published in 1938, later made into films, radio shows and a TV series.
The listing brokers are Matthew Lesser, Ravi Kantha and Matthew Pravda of Leslie J. Garfield.
