Alma Realty pays $10.7M to Sentinel for 88-unit rental in Washington Heights

Alma Realty through the entity Getty Industries LLC paid $10.7 million to Sentinel Real Estate through the entity 658 West 188th Street LLC for the 88-unit residential elevator building (D1) at 658-666 West 188th Street in Washington Heights, Manhattan.
The deal closed on August 30, 2023 and was recorded on September 8, 2023. The property has 98,124 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $108 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 September 17, 2015, for $23.1 million. The signatory for Sentinel Real Estate was Brian Ritter. The signatory for Alma Realty was Abraham Philip. The contract date was August 11, 2023. Brian Ritter is managing director of Sentinel.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Alma Realty purchased six properties in six transactions for a total of $28.9 million and sold one property in one transaction for a total of $4.3 million over the past 24 months.
The seller Sentinel Real Estate had not purchased any other properties and sold two 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 Brian Ritter, head officer and Ally Perez, site manager. The business entities are Rose Property Mgmt Grp Llc and 658 West 188th Street Llc.

The property

The residential elevator building with 88 residential units in Washington Heights has 98,124 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 137 feet and is 94 feet deep with a total lot size of 24,476 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 $5.7 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 two DOB violations and 13 housing 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 block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 41 of the 88 commercial properties representing 1,514,548 square feet of the 2,638,389 square feet. The largest owner is Zef Curanovic, followed by Morris Schreiber and then David Simhaee.
On the tax block, there were eight new building construction projects totaling 516,827 square feet. The largest is a 123-unit, 135,361 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Woody Victor with plans filed October 4, 2017 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a 98-unit, 109,200 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by HAP Investments and filed by Eldad Gothelf with plans filed December 5, 2013 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 64 percent of the 2.6 million square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 31 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Sentinel Real Estate owned at least 16 commercial properties with 960 residential units in New York City with 986,029 square feet and a city-determined market value of $78.8 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $31.7 million in debt, borrowed from New York Community Bank. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 96 percent of the 986,029 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 4 percent of the space. The bulk, or 81 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Manhattan next at 19 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Alma Realty owned at least 121 commercial properties with 5,966 residential units in New York City with 5,373,353 square feet and a city-determined market value of $541.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $472.2 million in debt, with top three lenders as New York Community Bank, Efstathios Valiotis, and JPMorgan Chase respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 69 percent of the 5,373,353 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 25 percent of the space. The bulk, or 40 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Queens next at 30 percent of the space.

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