A Year-End Blowout in NYC Investment Property Deals

Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation’s Ben Ashkenazy; Clipper Equity’s David Bistricer; Fetner’s Hal Fetner; L+M Development Partners’s Ron Moelis (Google Maps, Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation, Fetner, Clipper Equity, L+M Development Partners)

From Ashkenazy Acquisition to ZG Capital, property investors raced to beat the clock and close on investment deals before the calendar flipped to 2022.

The bevy of sales helped breathe life into Manhattan’s investment sales market, which accounted for the most deals for the third straight week in the $10 million to $40 million range. The borough recorded 11 sales last week. Brooklyn saw six deals, Queens two and the Bronx one.

Twenty mid-market sales fetched a total of $370 million, outpacing even the prior week’s larger-than-usual $320 million.

Below are more details of the buzzer-beating deals recorded in late December, which hit city property records last week:

1. Ben Ashkenazy’s Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. bought a 200,000-square-foot shopping center at 92-59 59th Avenue in Elmhurst, Queens, for $40.5 million. The purchase brings the property out of tenant JC Penney’s bankruptcy, during which trustee Glas Trust bought the building in April 2021 for $18.1 million

2. Fetner Properties bought a 2,850-square-foot lot at 270 West 96th Street  on the Upper West Side from the NAACP for $16.8 million, and PGIM Real Estate bought the 2,500-square-foot parcel next door from the Salvation Army for $16.1 million. Fetner plans to develop a 150,000-square-foot, mixed-use building on West 96th Street, for which it received a $108 million loan from Wells Fargo.

The developer was also recently revealed as the seller of 625 residential units to Empire State Realty Trust as part of that firm’s pivot to the multifamily sector.

3. David Bistricer’s Clipper Equity bought a 23,000-square-foot development parcel at 1050 Pacific Street in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, for $26 million. The developer has yet to file construction plans for the site. Harry Daskal was the seller.

4. L+M Development Partners bought a 48,500-square-foot parcel at 888 Fountain Avenue in East New York, Brooklyn, for $25 million. The affordable housing developer plans to build a 15-story, mixed-use building at the site spanning 386,000 square feet. Empire State Development sold the land.

5. California-based IRA Capital bought a 12,600-square-foot medical building at 3417 Kings Highway in Flatlands, Brooklyn, for $22.7 million. The seller was Fieber Group. The NewYork-Presbyterian Medical Group Brooklyn leases the building.

6. Steve Croman sold a 17-unit, 19,700-square-foot apartment building at 182-184 Stanton Street on the Lower East Side for $21.3 million. The buyer was Targo Capital Partners. A notorious landlord and ex-convict, Croman is seeking around $120 million ​ for 14 of his apartment buildings in and around the East Village.

7. Manuel Glas’s GLAS Architects bought a 9,350-square-foot, mixed-use building and a 10,500-square-foot warehouse at 88 and 90 White Street, respectively, in Chinatown for $20.5 million. The O’Kane family of Hugh O’Kane Electric Company sold the buildings.

8. Chicago-based private equity firm L3 Capital bought mixed-use buildings spanning a combined 8,700 square feet at 200 and 202 Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, for $20.5 million. Robert Li was the seller.

9. Houston-based Crest Investment bought a 14,855-square-foot commercial condo unit at 100 East 53rd Street in Midtown for $20.1 million. Vanke U.S., a subsidiary of China’s largest residential development firm, was the seller. Aby Rosen and Michael Fuchs’s RFR has battled Vanke U.S. over financing at the building.

10. Craig Policastro sold a 15,000-square-foot warehouse at 444 West 36th Street in Hudson Yards for $15 million. Limited liability company EX ZDJ 36 was the buyer.

11. Morris Weinberg bought an 86,000-square-foot apartment building with 84 units at 100 East 21st Street in Flatbush, Brooklyn, for $14.8 million. Jacob Hager was the seller.

12. Alma Realty Corp bought a 60,000-square-foot apartment building with 79 units at 165 Bennett Avenue in Washington Heights for $14.6 million. Lee Krantzow was the seller.

13. Jason Fishkind bought a 10,500-square-foot retail building at 2535 Webster Avenue in Fordham, the Bronx, for $13.8 million. Transworld Equities was the buyer.

14. David Kaye and Joe Listhaus’s Rockledge, in partnership with PH Realty Capital and L3C Capital Partners, bought three apartment buildings spanning 96,060-square-feet with a combined 100 units at 617, 623 and 629 West 170th Street in Washington Heights for $13.2 million. The seller was Adrian Longo. Justin Conway of Besen Partners brokered the sale.

15. Daniel Kroll bought a 19,250-square-foot condo building at 1027-1035 Cortelyou Road in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, for $12.8 million through limited liability company MKFIT1. The seller was Daniel Cohen through two limited liability companies.

16. Kaled Management bought a 3,500-square-foot, mixed-use building at 54 Third Avenue in the East Village for $12 million. The Hyun family sold the building.

17. Norse Realty bought a 10,200-square-foot retail building at 37-60 82nd Street in Jackson Heights, Queens, for $11.8 million. Ponce Bank was the seller.

18. Noho Hospitality bought a 8,850-square-foot, mixed-use building at 325 Bowery in the East Village for $11.5 million. Atlas Capital Group was the seller.

19. Carter Management bought a 17,800-square-foot parking structure at 148 East 33rd Street in Kips Bay for $11 million. Coral Realty was the seller.

20. Benjamin Shaoul’s Magnum Real Estate Group sold a 4,000-square-foot residential building at 81 Charles Street in the West Village for $10.2 million. Houston-based Northern Trust was the buyer.