NEW YORK CITY-The 247,617-sf building at 1760 Third Ave. has sold for $80 million, or $325 per sf. GlobeSt.com first reported the building had been put on the market in October. Massey Knakal Realty Services handled the deal for the unnamed buyer and seller.

"1760 Third Ave. was one of those exceptional assets capable of capturing both the attention and the imagination not only of developers and converters, but also a number of educational and medical institutions looking to convert it for their own use," says Shimon Shkury a Massey Knakal partner. Shkury was the exclusive agent for the transaction.

The building, which sits on Third Avenue between 97th and 98th streets, is 19 stories and was originally built as a nursing home. After a number of potential buyers offered ideas for the site, which included a complete teardown or conversion, "a prominent real estate personality teamed up with an educational institution to close the transaction."

The school will turn the building into a dorm for its students. Renovations can begin immediately, since the property has been vacant for a number of years after the property's owner sold the nursing home that was housed in the facility.

Yet as a vacant 247,000 square foot existing building on the northern edge of the Upper East Side, 1760 Third Ave. was truly worthy to be considered both," says sales team manager Michael Tortorici.

The sale of 1760 Third Ave. bucks a recent trend toward residential in the Upper East Side. Earlier this week, Skyline purchased five adjacent properties on Third Avenue and 79th Street for $36 million. The developer plans to build a luxury rental property that can be up to 150,000 sf. In March, construction began on an 87-unit multifamily project at 255 E. 74th St., which is being developed by World-Wide Group.