Aron Stark closes on $13.58M purchase of dev site on Union Square East

Aron Stark paid $13.58 million to T30 Capital for the development site at 34 Union Square East in Manhattan, in a sale that closed on May 1, 2026, after going into contract in October 2025, according to person familiar with the transaction. As of publication, the sale had not yet been recorded in city records.
The Real Deal reported on the transaction when it went into contract.

After going into contract but before closing, Aron Stark submitted a new building construction project for a 29-unit, 30,946 square-foot residential (R-2) building at 34 Union Square East, filed under the alternate name 100 East 16th Street. The plan was filed on March 9, 2026. It calls for the construction of a 124-foot tall, 12-story building and was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings under job number M01364168. The architect is Kao Hwa Lee Architects PC. The project is described in the filing as: proposed new 12-story and cellar 29-unit mixed-use building.

Aron Stark is the younger cousin of another real estate investor with the same name.

Shay Zach of GAIA Property Group and Alexandra Marolda of Avison Young brokered the sale.

The property

The retail building in Gramercy has 6,500 square feet of built space and 26,000 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 32,500 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 26 feet and is 125 feet deep with a total lot size of 3,250 square feet. The zoning is C6-4 which allows for up to 10 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 10 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $4.4 million. The most recent loan totaled 0.0 and was provided by T30 Capital on October 15, 2024.

Prior sales, articles and revenue

This property was last sold by Riese Organization for $11.2 million to T30 Capital on October 21, 2024.

The 6,500-square-foot property generated revenue of $641,306 or $99 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has not received any significant violations in the last year.

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months.

The neighborhood

In Gramercy, The bulk, or 31 percent of the 11.3 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 24 percent of the space. In sales, Gramercy has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $380.7 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 28th highest in Manhattan. For development, Gramercy has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 18th highest in Manhattan. It had 2.5 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 23 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of nine of the 20 commercial properties representing 340,624 square feet of the 663,960 square feet. The largest owner is Christy Martin, followed by Croman Real Estate and then Dift. On the tax block, there were three new building construction projects totaling 154,979 square feet. The largest is a 150-unit, 110,142 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Tishman Realty and filed by Dan Unger with plans filed February 16, 2023 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a 29-unit, 30,946 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Aron Stark and filed by Aron Stark with plans filed March 9, 2026 and it has not been permitted yet.

The owner

The PincusCo database currently indicates that T30 Capital owned at least three commercial properties with 76 residential units in New York City with 69,515 square feet and a city-determined market value of $12.7 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $24.5 million in debt, borrowed from SME Capital Ventures and JPMorgan Chase. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 74 percent of the 69,515 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with retail properties next occupying 26 percent of the space. The bulk, or 74 percent of the built space, is in Bronx, with Manhattan next at 26 percent of the space.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 102 East 16 Street, PincusCo identified three commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those three items, one was in new building development. It was a new building permit application filed on March 27, 2026 for a 13,891-square-foot residential (R-2) building with 16 residential units at 117 East 15th Street. Of those three items, one was for major renovation including a certificate of occupancy change. It was a permit application filed on March 29, 2026 for the $1.4 million renovation of 18,940-square-foot residential (RES) building with 10 residential units at 108 East 16th Street. One of those three items was a loan which Empire State Realty Trust borrowed $53.5 million from Morgan Stanley secured by one condo unit in the 63,105-square-foot, 696-unit mixed-use building (RM) on 10 Union Square East on April 9, 2026.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.