Alchemy-ABR pays $34.2M for dev site, air rights, in Lenox Hill

Alchemy Properties and ABR Partners, using the unofficial name Alchemy-ABR Investment Partners for the partnership, paid a total of $34.225 million for two tax parcels at 1482 and 1484 First Avenue,  and additional air rights, from three separate sellers in three transactions. The Real Deal first reported on the sale last week.

In the first transaction, Alchemy-ABR through the entity East 77 Property Owner LLC paid $20.8 million to the entity Prize Network Group LLC for the specialty building (I5) at 1484 First Avenue in Lenox Hill, Manhattan. The expected use is cash flowing.
The deal closed on August 28, 2024 and was recorded on September 6, 2024. The property has 13,600 square feet of built space and 33,409 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 46,990 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $1,525 and the price per buildable square foot is $441 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 Leona Horwitz was Lloyd Shaffer. The signatory for Alchemy Properties, ABR Partners, and Alchemy-ABR Investment Partners was Kenneth S. Horn. The contract date was August 21, 2024.

In the second transaction, Alchemy-ABR through the entity East 77 Property Owner LLC paid $8.2 million to Parkoff Organization through the entity 77 Yorkville Estates LLC for the six-unit mixed-use building (S9) at 1482 1st Avenue in Lenox Hill, Manhattan. The expected use is cash flowing. The deal closed on August 28, 2024 and was recorded on September 6, 2024. The property has 7,100 square feet of built space and 16,403 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 23,500 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $1,161 and the price per buildable square foot is $351 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 seller bought the property on March 20, 2012, for $3 million. The signatory for Parkoff Organization was Adam L. Parkoff. The signatory for Alchemy Properties, ABR Partners, and Alchemy-ABR Investment Partners was Kenneth S. Horn. The contract date was August 21, 2024.

In the air rights transaction, Alchemy-ABR through the entity East 77 Property Owner LLC paid $5.2 million to Copperwood Real Estate through the entity RSL 402-406 East 78th LLC for 17,717-square-feet of air rights related to a 39-unit residential walkup building (C7) at 402 East 78th Street in Lenox Hill, Manhattan.

The deal closed on August 28, 2024 and was recorded on September 6, 2024. The sale price per square foot of air rights is $293, according to a PincusCo analysis of the figures. The signatory for Copperwood Real Estate was Robert Lemle and Michael Barr. The signatory for Alchemy-ABR was Kenneth S. Horn. The contract date was August 22, 2024.

The Real Deal reported that Ido Tzaidi of IDRE Commercial Realty was the sole broker on the transaction.

Violations and lawsuits

The property was involved in two lawsuits and zero bankruptcies over the past two years. The highest value suit was a $5 million money judgment concerning a contract filed on January 27, 2023, by Meny Chukroon against Lloyd Shaffer. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $1,300 in OATH penalties 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 Lenox Hill, The bulk, or 34 percent of the 53.3 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 30 percent of the space. In sales, Lenox Hill has the highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $4.2 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Lenox Hill is the 6th most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 6.1 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 11 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 18 of the 31 commercial properties representing 240,805 square feet of the 407,449 square feet. The largest owner is Abro Management, followed by Caiola Family and then Kenneth Rosenblum.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 57,847 square feet. The largest is a 16-unit, 28,923 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Urban Spring Capital and filed by Jack Ezra with plans filed October 6, 2023 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a 16-unit, 28,923 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Urban Spring Capital and filed by Jack Ezra with plans filed October 6, 2023 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 51 percent of the 407,449 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 36 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Alchemy Properties owned at least two commercial properties in New York City with 368,261 square feet and a city-determined market value of $76.6 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $387 million in debt, with top three lenders as JPMorgan Chase, Security Benefit Life Insurance Company, and Signature Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 52 percent of the 368,261 square feet of built space are hotel properties, with office properties next occupying 48 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.

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