Aziz Tareb pays $7.2M for Red Hook retail that sold for $3.5M in 2018, $6M in 2014

Aziz Tareb, through the entity 521 Columbia St LLC, paid $7.2 million to RAP Columbia, LLC for the retail building at 521-527 Columbia Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The property has seen wild value swings over the past decade. David Shorenstein’s Silvershore Properties bought it in 2014 for $6 million, then sold it in 2018 during a weak period on the market to the anonymous entity RAP Columbia LLC for $3.465 million. Now that entity sold it for more than twice its purchase price.

The deal closed on March 30, 2022 and was recorded on April 11, 2022. The property has 13,410 square feet of built space and 11,600 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 25,000 square feet according to PincusCo analysis of city data.

The sale price per built square foot is $536 and the price per buildable square foot is $288 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.)

Aziz Tareb was the signatory on the deed. Attorney Gary Kreinik signed for RAP Columbia, LLC.

The seller bought the property on August 7, 2018, for $3.5 million.

Prior sales and revenue

The 13,410-square-foot property generated revenue of $392,345 or $29 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The 521-527 Columbia Street parcel has frontage of 200 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 20,000 square feet. The zoning is R5 which allows for up to 1.25 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.3 million.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property since September of 2020. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $2,000 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 $5 million on this tax lot.

The neighborhood

In Red Hook, the bulk, or 43 percent of the 10.2 million square feet of commercial built space are industrial buildings, with residential elevator buildings next occupying 25 percent of the space. In sales, Red Hook has 1.5 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $405.2 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 7th highest in Brooklyn. For development, Red Hook has 4.1 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 4th highest in Brooklyn. It had 3.7 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 37 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of one of the eight commercial properties representing 8,880 square feet of the 77,600 square feet. The identified owner is Joseph Lay. There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 30 percent of the 77,600 square feet of built space are residential walkup buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 27 percent of the space.

Surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 521-527 Columbia Street, Pincusco identified two commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months.
One of those two items was a sale which Brookfield Properties bought the 95,787-square-foot, one-unit industrial (E1) on 537 Columbia Street for $40 million from DH Property Holdings on December 9, 2021.
One of those two items was a loan which DH Property Holdings borrowed $14 million from Bank OZK secured by the 98,900-square-foot, one-unit industrial (E1) on 537 Columbia Street on September 10, 2019.

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