BWH Group pays Staples $17M for dev site in Bay Ridge

Daniel Grinshteyn’s BWH Group through the entity 9305 5th Ave LLC paid $17 million to Staples through the entity USR Real Estate Holdings LLC for the retail building (K1) at 9305 5th Avenue in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. The expected use is ground up development.
The deal closed on December 20, 2024 and was recorded on December 30, 2024. The property has 12,880 square feet of built space and 65,130 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 78,000 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $1,319 and the price per buildable square foot is $217 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 Staples was Michael Kenny. The signatory for BWH Group was Yelena Vaynshteyn. The contract date was October 10, 2024.

According to sources, Staples will remain at the location for “several years,” after which a new mixed-use building will be constructed.

The property

The retail building in Bay Ridge has 12,880 square feet of built space and 65,130 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 78,000 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 300 feet and is 116 feet deep with a total lot size of 39,000 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R6B which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $3.5 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 not received any significant violations 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 neighborhood

In Bay Ridge, The bulk, or 30 percent of the 21 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 28 percent of the space. In sales, Bay Ridge has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $249.9 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 26th highest in Brooklyn. For development, Bay Ridge has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 299,161 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 1 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of one of the 12 commercial properties representing 1,430 square feet of the 99,887 square feet. The identified owner is Accelerate.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 19,960 square feet. It is a 19,960 square-foot business (B) building submitted by David Podolsky with plans filed July 25, 2019 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 66 percent of the 99,887 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 16 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Affordable Living Ny owned at least seven commercial properties in New York City with 32,455 square feet and a city-determined market value of $4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 93 percent of the 32,455 square feet of built space are specialty properties, with V0 properties next occupying 7 percent of the space. The bulk, or 93 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Bronx next at 7 percent of the space.

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