Alchemy Ventures pays $8.7M for 8-unit walkup in East Village

Alchemy Ventures through the entity 78 East 1st Owner LLC paid $8.7 million to Soonbin Kim through the entity Maxanne Realty, Inc. for the eight-unit residential walkup building (C7) at 78 East 1st Street in East Village, Manhattan. The expected use is cash flowing.
The deal closed on January 27, 2026 and was recorded on January 29, 2026. The property has 7,800 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $1,115 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 August 8, 2003, for $2.9 million. The signatory for Soonbin Kim was Soonbin Kim. The signatory for Alchemy Ventures was Samuel Kooris . The contract date was October 31, 2025.

Prior sales, articles and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Alchemy Ventures purchased three properties in three transactions for a total of $34.5 million and sold two properties in two transactions for a total of $16.5 million over the past 24 months.
The seller Soonbin Kim had not purchased any other properties and sold three properties in two transactions for a total of $18 million over the same time period. The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Soonbin Kim, head officer and Jae Kim, officer. The business entity is Maxanne Realty.

The property

The residential walkup building with 8 residential units in East Village has 7,800 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 30 feet and is 57 feet deep with a total lot size of 1,710 square feet. The zoning is R7A which allows for up to 4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $3.4 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 $10,000 in ECB penalties and $10,150 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 block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 16 of the 27 commercial properties representing 290,961 square feet of the 365,670 square feet. The largest owner is New York City Housing Authority, followed by Moise Lavian and then Firebird Grove.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 32,083 square feet. The largest is a 22-unit, 19,325 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Sergey Rybak with plans filed May 24, 2018 and permitted August 30, 2019. The second largest is a seven-unit, 12,758 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Cynthia Wu with plans filed October 31, 2014 and permitted February 27, 2018.

The majority, or 43 percent of the 365,670 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 41 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Soonbin Kim owned at least two commercial properties with 12 residential units in New York City with 15,776 square feet and a city-determined market value of $4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, all identified are walkup properties. They are all located in Brooklyn.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Alchemy Ventures owned at least 40 commercial properties with 369 residential units in New York City with 333,562 square feet and a city-determined market value of $82.7 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $64.9 million in debt, with top three lenders as Signature Bank, Citibank, and Greystone & Co. respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 82 percent of the 333,562 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with elevator properties next occupying 11 percent of the space. The bulk, or 80 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Manhattan next at 19 percent of the space.

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