Seastone Capital pays $4.8M for 60-unit walkup in Washington Heights

UPDATED 11:05 a.m., February 27, 2024: Adam Goodstein’s Seastone Capital through the entity 175th Associates LLC paid $4.8 million to Jeffrey Farkas through the entity 470 Audubon Ave. Corp. for the 60-unit residential walkup building (C7) at 560 W 175th St in Washington Heights, Manhattan.
The deal closed on February 15, 2024 and was recorded on February 23, 2024. The property has 56,300 square feet of built space and 164 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 56,515 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $85 and the price per buildable square foot is $85 per the PincusCo analysis. (The price per square foot analysis is the transaction price divided by square feet as reported in public records and assumes no air rights have been sold.)
The signatory for Jeffrey Farkas was Jeffrey Farkas. The signatory for Seastone Capital was Aaron Jungreis. The contract date was December 22, 2023. Jeffrey Farkas acquired the building in the 1980s.

Rosewood Realty Group’s Ben Khakshoor and Alex Fuchs brokered the sale for the buyer and the seller.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that Aaron Jungreis as signatory had purchased any other properties and as signatory, related entities sold three properties in one transaction for a total of $28 million over the past 24 months.
The seller Jeffrey Farkas had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period. The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Ray Seelall, head officer and Justo Fernandez, site manager. The business entity is 470 Audubon Ave. Corp.

The property

The residential walkup building with 60 residential units in Washington Heights has 56,300 square feet of built space and 164 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 56,515 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 125 feet and is 131 feet deep with a total lot size of 16,429 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R7-2 which allows for up to 3.44 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $2.6 million.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received one DOB violation, 27 housing violations, $250 in OATH penalties, and one housing litigation in the last year.

Development

There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $1 million on this tax lot.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of nine of the 20 commercial properties representing 229,963 square feet of the 435,804 square feet. The largest owner is Renaissance Realty Group, followed by Pinnacle Group and then New York City Department Of Housing Preservation And Development.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 65 percent of the 435,804 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 28 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Jeffrey Farkas owned at least two commercial properties with 148 residential units in New York City with 147,020 square feet and a city-determined market value of $16.7 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $20.2 million in debt, borrowed from Santander Bank. Within the portfolio, all identified are elevator properties. The bulk, or 71 percent of the built space, is in Queens, with Manhattan next at 29 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Aaron Jungreis owned at least 31 commercial properties with 718 residential units in New York City with 634,509 square feet and a city-determined market value of $71.4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $7.5 million in debt, borrowed from New York Community Bank. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 56 percent of the 634,509 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 42 percent of the space. The bulk, or 52 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Manhattan next at 48 percent of the space.

Correction: An earlier version of this post indicated Aaron Jungreis was the buyer, but in fact it was Adam Goodstein’s Seastone Capital.

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