Artimus pays $16.9M to Cityscapes Realty for 50% stake in two Harlem dev sites

Artimus through the entity 1440 Art JV Member LLC paid $16.9 million to Cityscapes Realty through the entity Lefkas Realty LLC for a 50 percent stake in a two non-adjacent development parcels along Amsterdam Avenue between 131st Street and 133rd Street in Harlem, Manhattan. The other 50 percent member, Grid Group, was not impacted by this transaction.

The deal closed on August 31, 2023 and was recorded on September 6, 2023. The two properties have zero square feet of built space.
The signatory for Cityscapes Realty was Spyridon Papakonstadinou. The signatory for Artimus was Yoav Haron. The contract date was August 31, 2023. In this transaction, Cityscapes sold its 50% stake in the property to Artimus. The other 50% is owned by Grid Group. Grid Group and Cityscapes paid $6 million for seven tax lots and $21.5 million for air rights to the New York City Housing Authority.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Grid Group had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Cityscapes Realty purchased 14 properties in two transactions for a total of $27.5 million and had not sold any properties over the same time period.

The property

The most recent loan totaled $32 million and was provided by Valley National Bank on October 13, 2022.

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 not received any significant 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 the tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of six of the six commercial properties representing 1,367,533 square feet of the 1,367,533 square feet. The largest owner is New York Housing Authority, followed by Grid Group and then Cityscapes Realty.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 469,214 square feet. The largest is a 393-unit, 409,961 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Grid Group and filed by Yiannes Einhorn with plans filed December 17, 2021 and permitted May 19, 2022. The second largest is a 51-unit, 59,253 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Athena Vrettos with plans filed October 14, 2014 and permitted August 24, 2015.

The majority, or 94 percent of the 1.4 million square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 6 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Cityscapes Realty owned at least five commercial properties with 1,377 residential units in New York City with 1,378,347 square feet and a city-determined market value of $120.1 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $5 million in debt, borrowed from First Republic Bank. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 100 percent of the 1,378,347 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with industrial properties next occupying 0 percent of the space. The bulk, or 94 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Queens next at 6 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Artimus owned at least 27 commercial properties with 776 residential units in New York City with 550,239 square feet and a city-determined market value of $117.4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $282.9 million in debt, with top three lenders as Bank Leumi, Bank Hapoalim, and Barings respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 56 percent of the 550,239 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 35 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Grid Group owned at least six commercial properties with 1,309 residential units in New York City with 1,371,174 square feet and a city-determined market value of $115.5 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $70.5 million in debt, with top three lenders as Northwind Group, First Republic Bank, and Midfirst Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 94 percent of the 1,371,174 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with D3 properties next occupying 5 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.

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