Blackstone pays $197M to ASB Capital for four SoHo retail locations

Blackstone Group through its division ShopCore Properties pays $197 million to ASB Capital Management and partners for four SoHo retail locations at 72-76 Greene Street, 61-63 Crosby Street, 415 West Broadway and 40 Mercer Street, also known as 465 Broadway in four transactions. ASB Capital Management bought the properties between 2012 and 2016 for a total of $204 million. The Real Deal reported on this transaction.

In the first, Blackstone Group through the entity Soho Retail Portfolio 72-76 Greene Street LLC paid $90 million to ASB Capital Management and L3 Capital through the entity Asb L3 72-76 Greene Street, LLC for the three-unit retail building (O5) at 72-76 Greene Street in SoHo, Manhattan. The expected use is cash flowing.
The deal closed on November 19, 2024 and was recorded on November 25, 2024. The property has 45,000 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $2,000 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 December 11, 2012, for $41 million. The signatory for ASB Capital Management and L3 Capital was Brodie Ruland. The signatory for ShopCore Properties and Blackstone Group was Adam Leslie. The contract date was October 18, 2024. ASB Capital Management owns real estate through its affiliate ASB Real Estate Investments. 72-76 Greene Street rose in value from $41 million to $90 million, while 465 Broadway aka 40 Mercer declined from $80 million in 2013 to $17.2 million.  Brodie Ruland  ShopCore Properties is owned by Blackstone Group. The brokerage Newmark through a team led by Adam Spies and Josh King, negotiated the sale.

In the second, Blackstone Group through the entity Soho Retail Portfolio 61-63 Crosby Street LLC paid $54.5 million to ASB Capital Management and L3 Capital through the entity 6163 Crosby Street Inc. for the office building (O5) at 61-63 Crosby Street in SoHo, Manhattan. The expected use is cash flowing. The deal closed on November 19, 2024 and was recorded on November 25, 2024. The property has 27,930 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $1,951 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.)

In the third, Blackstone Group through the entity Soho Retail Portfolio 415 West Broadway LLC paid $35.3 million to ASB Capital Management and Centurion Realty through the entity Asb Centurion 415 West Broadway Holdings, LLC for the two-unit retail building (O5) at 413-415 West Broadway in SoHo, Manhattan. The expected use is cash flowing. The deal closed on November 19, 2024 and was recorded on November 25, 2024. The property has 28,964 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $1,217 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 July 17, 2013, for $41 million. The signatory for ASB Capital Management and Centurion Realty was Brodie Ruland.

In the fourth, Blackstone Group through the entity Soho Retail Portfolio 465 Broadway LLC paid $17.2 million to ASB Capital Management and Centurion Realty through the entity 40 Mercer Retail Holdings, LLC for the retail condo at 40 Mercer Street in SoHo, Manhattan, retail condo at 40 Mercer Street in SoHo, Manhattan, and retail condo at 40 Mercer Street in SoHo, Manhattan. The expected use is cash flowing. The deal closed on November 19, 2024 and was recorded on November 25, 2024. The five properties have 9,339 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $1,846 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 ASB Capital Management and Centurion Realty was Brodie Ruland. The signatory for ShopCore Properties and Blackstone Group was Adam Leslie. The contract date was October 18, 2024. ASB bought these five retail condo units for $80 million.

Prior sales and revenue

The seller ASB Capital Management had not purchased any other properties and sold five properties in three transactions for a total of $39.7 million over the same time period. The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Brodie Ruland, head officer and Sal Ariganello, agent. The business entities are Cushman & Wakefield Usa Inc. and Asb L3 72-76 Greene St. Llc.

The property

The retail building with 3 residential units in SoHo has 45,000 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 75 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 7,500 square feet. The zoning is M1-5/R7X which allows for up to 5 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing and up to 5 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The property is in the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $22.6 million.

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 $50 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

For the tax lot building, it received its initial certificate of occupancy on June 10, 2013. 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 SoHo, The bulk, or 46 percent of the 9.5 million square feet of commercial built space are office buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 14 percent of the space. In sales, SoHo has 2.1 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $528.8 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 18th highest in Manhattan. For development, SoHo has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 271,299 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 six of the 15 commercial properties representing 106,974 square feet of the 201,726 square feet. The largest owner is L3 Capital, followed by Albert Malekan and then George Makkos.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 31 percent of the 201,726 square feet of built space are retail buildings, with office buildings next occupying 25 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that L3 Capital owned at least 21 commercial properties with 25 residential units in New York City with 113,558 square feet and a city-determined market value of $50.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $278.3 million in debt, with top three lenders as JPMorgan Chase, Ladder Capital, and Wintrust Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 44 percent of the 113,558 square feet of built space are retail properties, with mixed-use properties next occupying 35 percent of the space. The bulk, or 60 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Manhattan next at 40 percent of the space.
The PincusCo database currently indicates that ASB Capital Management owned at least two commercial properties with five residential units in New York City with 73,964 square feet and a city-determined market value of $35.7 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, all identified are retail properties. They are all located in Manhattan.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Blackstone Group owned at least 41 commercial properties with 14,221 residential units in New York City with 16,940,379 square feet and a city-determined market value of $3.2 billion. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $1.6 billion in debt, with top three lenders as Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, and New York Life Insurance Company respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 90 percent of the 16,940,379 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with industrial properties next occupying 3 percent of the space. The bulk, or 84 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Queens next at 12 percent of the space.

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