Azimuth partners with Top Rock through $4.3M equity purchase in Longwood dev site

Azimuth Development Group through the entity BMAD 3rd LLC acquired an interest from Top Rock Holdings through the entity 2970 Enterprise LLC valued at $4.3 million at the development site at 2970 3rd Avenue in Longwood, Bronx. Top Rock Holdings remains in the deal as a joint venture partner.
The deal closed on September 26, 2023 and was recorded on October 5, 2023. The property has 11,450 square feet of built space and 36,614 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 48,074 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $374 and the price per buildable square foot is $89 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 26, 2021, for $8.8 million.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Azimuth Development Group purchased one property in one transaction for a total of $8.7 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Top Rock Holdings purchased 10 properties in five transactions for a total of $123.5 million and sold four properties in four transactions for a total of $24.4 million over the same time period. The 11,450-square-foot property generated revenue of $455,367 or $40 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The retail building which is set to be demolished in Longwood has 11,450 square feet of built space and 36,614 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 48,074 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 52 feet and is 192 feet deep with a total lot size of 13,975 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is C4-4 which allows for up to 3.4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 3.44 times FAR for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $2.2 million. The most recent loan totaled $6.2 million and was provided by Golden Bridge Funding on September 16, 2022.

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 $660 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 neighborhood

In Longwood, The bulk, or 44 percent of the 22.3 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 27 percent of the space. In sales, Longwood has had very little sales volume relative to other neighborhoods with $194.4 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Longwood has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 735,803 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 3 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of five of the 22 commercial properties representing 173,143 square feet of the 469,711 square feet. The largest owner is Wharton Properties, followed by Uzi Shvut and then Top Rock Holdings.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 124,249 square feet. It is a 124,249 square-foot educational (E) building submitted by AB Capstone and filed by Meir Babaev with plans filed January 7, 2019 and permitted December 11, 2020.

The majority, or 48 percent of the 469,711 square feet of built space are retail buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 31 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Top Rock Holdings owned at least 11 commercial properties with nine residential units in New York City with 172,650 square feet and a city-determined market value of $45.7 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $20.6 million in debt, with top three lenders as Lightstone Group, Golden Bridge Funding, and Northwind Group respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 41 percent of the 172,650 square feet of built space are specialty properties, with M1 properties next occupying 39 percent of the space. The bulk, or 83 percent of the built space, is in Queens, with Bronx next at 12 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Azimuth Development Group owned at least five commercial properties with 80 residential units in New York City with 149,420 square feet and a city-determined market value of $14.9 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $25.8 million in debt, with top three lenders as KeyBank, Raza Development Fund, Inc., and EB-5 New York State respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 59 percent of the 149,420 square feet of built space are specialty properties, with D6 properties next occupying 34 percent of the space. The bulk, or 93 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Bronx next at 7 percent of the space.

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