Leon Hedvat pays $3.5M for retail condos in Grand Central through bankruptcy

UPDATED 2:21 p.m., April 28, 2026: Leon Hedvat through the entity 32 Partners LLC paid $3.5 million through a bankruptcy for three retail condominium units and a storage unit at the office and retail condo building 32 West 39th Street in Grand Central, Manhattan. The expected use is cash flowing.

The prior owner was Aron Rosenberg’s R&B Realty Group through the entity 32 W. 39th Street Sole Member LLC, which placed the asset into bankruptcy.
The deal closed on April 17, 2026 and was recorded on April 24, 2026. The four properties have 13,983 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $246 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 signatory for R&B Realty Group was David Wallen. The signatory for Leon Hedvat was Behrooz Hedvat . The contract date was February 11, 2026. Maltz Auctions was marketing the properties.

Prior sales, articles and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Behrooz Hedvat purchased three properties in three transactions for a total of $44.6 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller R&B Realty Group had not purchased any other properties and sold one property in one transaction for a total of $2.2 million over the same time period.

The property

The retail condo in Grand Central has 13,983 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has a total lot size of 7,575 square feet. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.7 million.

Transaction Participants

Anthony J. Cornicello at Cornicello, Tendler & Baumel-Cornicello, LLP participated in the transaction on behalf of the buyer.

Violations and lawsuits

The properties were involved in two lawsuits and one bankruptcy over the past two years. The highest value suit was a $2.5 million money judgment concerning a turnover filed on February 4, 2026, by Lightstone Group against Charles Schwab & Co. The bankruptcy was filed on September 25, 2024, by R&B Realty Group, Aron Rosenberg, Albert Rosenberg, David Goldwasser, and FIA Capital Partners citing assets of $52.2 million. 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 neighborhood

In Grand Central, The majority, or 83 percent of the 44.4 million square feet of commercial built space are office buildings, with hotel buildings next occupying 8 percent of the space. In sales, Grand Central has the 5th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $2.2 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Grand Central is the 5th most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 12 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 27 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On the tax block of 32 West 39th Street, PincusCo has identified the owners of 16 of the 27 commercial properties representing 1,408,875 square feet of the 1,903,078 square feet. The largest owner is Amazon, followed by Jacob Aini and then Fortuna Realty Group.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 73,220 square feet. The largest is a 173-unit, 62,062 square-foot hotel/dormitory/shelter (R-1) building submitted by Wei Hong Hu and filed by Wei Hong Hu with plans filed April 20, 2018 and permitted July 24, 2018. The second largest is a 299-unit, 11,158 square-foot hotel/dormitory/shelter (R-1) building submitted by Alan Reich with plans filed December 30, 2016 and permitted January 4, 2019.

The majority, or 70 percent of the 1.9 million square feet of built space are office buildings, with hotel buildings next occupying 23 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that R&B Realty Group owned at least one commercial property in New York City with 9,876 square feet and a PincusCo-determined asset value of $8.9 million. The portfolio has $52 million in debt, borrowed from Lightstone Group. The portfolio consists of at least a single office property.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Behrooz Hedvat owned at least eight commercial properties with 78 residential units in New York City with 202,924 square feet and a PincusCo-determined asset value of $101.8 million. The portfolio has $76.8 million in debt, with top three lenders as Ladder Capital, Signature Bank, and Argentic Investment Management respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 40 percent of the 202,924 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with retail properties next occupying 26 percent of the space.

Updated with revised buyer information.

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