Arben Mitaj pays $7M for dev sites in Fordham Heights, gets $31M construction loan

Arben Mitaj through the entity 2180 Walton LLC paid $7 million to Barry Leon through the entity Morris Walton Owners LLC for the block-through development site (V0) at 2180 Walton Avenue and at 2183 Morris Avenue in Fordham Heights, Bronx.
On these lots, there are two active new building construction projects and major alteration projects with initial costs more than $5 million, totaling 78,206 square feet. The largest is a new building project for a 63-unit, 40,479 square-foot R-2 building submitted by Arben Mitaj and filed by Arben Mitaj with plans filed May 14, 2021 and permitted April 8, 2022. The second largest is a new building project for a 60-unit, 37,726 square-foot R-2 building submitted by Arben Mitaj and filed by Arben Mitaj with plans filed May 12, 2021 and permitted April 14, 2022.
At the same time, Arben Mitaj signed a $31.3 million construction loan with Ponce Bank for the two projects.
The deal closed on July 27, 2023 and was recorded on August 16, 2023. The two properties have zero square feet of built space and 83,966 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 83,966 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per buildable square foot is $83 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 Barry Leon was Barry Leon. The signatory for Arben Mitaj was Arben Mitaj. The contract date was March 20, 2023.

Because multiple properties have been transacted, some of the following sections will follow the property with the largest assessed value, which in this case, is the property on 2180 Walton Avenue.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Arben Mitaj had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Barry Leon had not purchased any other properties and sold four properties in two transactions for a total of $22 million over the same time period.

The property

The parcel has frontage of 75 feet and is 95 feet deep with a total lot size of 7,124 square feet. The zoning is R8 which allows for up to 6.02 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $361,000.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the properties for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have received five DOB violations, $25,655 in ECB penalties, and $26,705 in OATH penalties in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Fordham Heights, The bulk, or 46 percent of the 16.3 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 35 percent of the space. In sales, Fordham Heights has had very little sales volume relative to other neighborhoods with $138.5 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Fordham Heights has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 644,429 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 4 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On the tax block of 2180 Walton Avenue, PincusCo has identified the owners of four of the 11 commercial properties representing 72,333 square feet of the 241,787 square feet. The largest owner is Vincent Maldonado, followed by Thorobird Investments and then Arben Mitaj.
On the tax block, there were three new building construction projects totaling 120,116 square feet. The largest is a 49-unit, 41,910 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Thorobird Companies and filed by Thomas Campbell with plans filed August 19, 2016 and permitted April 13, 2018. The second largest is a 63-unit, 40,479 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Arben Mitaj and filed by Arben Mitaj with plans filed May 14, 2021 and permitted April 8, 2022.

The majority, or 52 percent of the 241,787 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 48 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Barry Leon owned at least two commercial properties with 27 residential units in New York City with 24,000 square feet and a city-determined market value of $6.1 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $39.9 million in debt, borrowed from Fort Amsterdam Capital and Shahn Anderson. Within the portfolio, all identified are walkup properties. They are all located in Manhattan.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Arben Mitaj owned at least eight commercial properties with 46 residential units in New York City with 33,183 square feet and a city-determined market value of $6.9 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $8.6 million in debt, borrowed from Ponce Bank. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 95 percent of the 33,183 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with C0 properties next occupying 5 percent of the space. They are all located in Bronx.

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