The historic Manhattan address, and would-be home of infamous grifter Anna Delvey’s once-planned foundation, is set to hit the market this week, according to Crain’s.
Located at 281 Park Ave. South, the 130-year-old building will soon lose its sole tenant, the photography museum Fotografiska — which also operates the restaurant Verōnika and the lounge Chapel Bar within the property — and list for lease or sale, the outlet reported.
Investment company RFR Holding, which purchased the structure for $50 million in 2014, declined to offer further details to Crain’s regarding when the six-story structure will go up for sale — and for how much.
The landmarked stunner features an ornate, Medieval-inspired granite and limestone facade constructed in 1894, to serve as the headquarters of the Episcopal Church’s Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society. Then, in 1963, the church sold it for $910,000 to the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, which eventually sold it to RFR Holding.
After acquiring the building, RFR undertook a $30 million renovation of it and, in 2017, signed a 15-year lease with Fotografiska. Around then, Delvey (the Russia-born Anna Sorokin) became involved in 281’s story. The notorious fraudster planned to sign a lease for the “Anna Delvey Foundation” at the 45,000-square-foot property, bring in investors and sell them on the idea of installing a nightclub, a hotel, a German bakery and a juice bar within the structure, The Post previously reported.
In applying for the lease, she accrued some $100,000 in legal fees that she was unable to pay, leading to her being convicted of attempted grand larceny, among other charges.
In 2022, shortly after Netflix released the show “Inventing Anna” about Delvey, RFR listed the property for $135 million.
At the time, Josh Wyatt, CEO of Fotografiska’s global holding company CultureWorks, told The Post that “281 Park Ave has become a core pillar of Fotografiska New York’s burgeoning story,” and they had no plans to move.
Now, however, the museum is slated to move out of the building not in 2032, when its lease expires, but this September, Crain’s reported based on a Thursday unemployment filing by the company. It’s unclear where the space will relocate to.
A building spokeswoman told Crain’s that Chapel Bar and Verōnika are expected to close next month.
