Bill Ackman-backed firm selling long-stalled Seaport lot for $150M — a fraction of what it sold for in 2018

One of downtown’s longest-stalled development sites may get new life after billionaire hedge fund boss Bill Ackman’s Seaport Entertainment Group agreed to sell 250 Water St. for $150.5 million — a massive haircut from what the undeveloped lot fetched nearly a decade ago.

The eyesore in the shadow of the South Street Seaport, inherited by SEG in a spinoff last year from Howard Hughes Corp., was scooped up by prominent Big Apple developer Tavros, the companies announced Monday.

Hughes had bought the one-acre, full-block site for $180 million in 2018 and spent $40 million more for air rights. It planned an $850 million development featuring a 27-story complex with 399 apartments above a five-story base with offices, stores and community space.

The proposal was fiercely resisted by neighbors who didn’t want to lose their views and by activists who objected to the project’s scale. Hughes eventually won a court fight to build it as planned. 

“Don’t think of it as a fire sale,” one downtown analyst told The Post. “Seaport Entertainment isn’t a developer. The lot was an albatross around its neck at the same time it has its hands full with the Tin Building,” the money-losing Jean-Georges Vongerichten-branded food mecca nearby.

Ackman, head of Pershing Square Holdings, owns a controlling 39% stake in SEG.  He’s also the major shareholder in Howard Hughes, which spun off the Seaport and the nearby lot in order to concentrate on Hughes’ nationwide development business.

“Ackman agreed the lot had to go,” the source said.

Ackman didn’t respond to The Post’s request for comment.

SEG chairman Anton Nikodemus said in a statement the anticipated sale “marks a significant milestone … unlocking capital that is poised to enhance our balance sheet.”

Tavros has built or is completing highly successful Gowanus Wharf in Brooklyn and major projects in the Meatpacking District and in Long Island City.

However, it is unclear if Tavros plans to build the same complex of apartments, offices, stores and public space that Hughes spent years to design, steer through the city’s tortuous review process and defend from lawsuits.

There was no immediate comment from Tavros, founded by Nicholas Silver and Dov Barnett.

Downtown landlords, residents and office tenants will be closely watching what happens at the lot around the corner from the Pier 17 entertainment complex and one block west of South Street and the East River.

The deal raises hopes that the currently fenced-in lot will finally blossom into much-needed apartments and community parkland.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron had sided with activists, but was overruled by the state Court of Appeals in May 2024. 

Hughes CEO David O’Reilley said the green light from the state’s highest court “paves the way to begin construction.”

But the spinoff in July stalled things again.

Realty Check predicted early this year that the new company would try to sell the site.

SEG senior vice president Ellie Chamberland said at the time,  “We anticipate additional announcements regarding the future of 250 Water Street in the coming months.”

A JLL team brokered the sale to Tavros, which SEG’s Nikodemus praised as “an experienced and engaged developer well-positioned to bring this project to life in a way that respects the character of the neighborhood.”