Bashkim Celaj pays $10.4M for 52-unit rental in Washington Heights

Bashkim Celaj through the entity 720 West 181st Owner LLC paid $10.4 million to Daniel Goldberg through the entity Viaveb LLC for the 52-unit residential elevator building (D7) at 720 West 181st Street in Washington Heights, Manhattan. The expected use is cash flowing.
The deal closed on November 15, 2024 and was recorded on November 20, 2024. The property has 51,144 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $203 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 April 10, 2017, for $32 million. The signatory for Daniel Goldberg was April Goldberg. The signatory for Bashkim Celaj was Bashkim Celaj. The contract date was August 20, 2024.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Bashkim Celaj purchased one property in one transaction for a total of $2.6 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Daniel Goldberg had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period. The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Daniel Goldberg, head officer and Hugh Zanger, officer. The business entities are Orsid Ny and Viaveb 720 West Partners Llc.

The property

The residential elevator building with 52 residential units in Washington Heights has 51,144 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 100 feet and is 129 feet deep with a total lot size of 12,400 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R7-2 which allows for up to 3.44 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $6.3 million. The property has 53 rent regulated units according to city tax records from 2023.

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 one DOB violation, eight housing violations, and $730 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 block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 21 of the 31 commercial properties representing 1,134,491 square feet of the 1,403,746 square feet. The largest owner is Aurora Capital Associates, followed by Stellar Management and then C. Gershon Company.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 74 percent of the 1.4 million square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 13 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Bashkim Celaj owned at least 13 commercial properties with 630 residential units in New York City with 617,475 square feet and a city-determined market value of $34.5 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $76.8 million in debt, with top three lenders as Peapack-Gladstone Bank, New York Community Bank, and Customers Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 53 percent of the 617,475 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 47 percent of the space. They are all located in Bronx.

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