Braka family pays $8M to Aetna Realty for retail in NoHo

The entity Didco Urban Renewal Company, associated with Ivor Braka, David Braka, and Benjamin Braka, paid $8 million to Aetna Realty through the entity 344 Bowery Retail LLC for the retail condo at 344 Bowery in NoHo, Manhattan. The expected use is cash flowing. Aetna Realty is also affiliated with the Braka family.
The deal closed on September 25, 2024 and was recorded on September 27, 2024. The property has 3,950 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $2,012 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 16, 2007, for $1.593 million. The signatory for Aetna Realty was Benjamin Braka. The signatory for the buyer entity was Michele Needle. The contract date was September 25, 2024. Didco Urban Renewal Company, created in the 1990s, is registered at a property in New Jersey owned by U.S. Realty Management Company LLC, which also has an office at Aetna Realty’s office at 450 Seventh Avenue. Michele Needle is affiliated with U.S. Realty Management and Centurian Management, as well as the nonprofit entity Braka Philanthropic Foundation, which gives mostly to Jewish religious groups and nonprofits in New York and New Jersey.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Ivor Braka had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Aetna Realty purchased one property in one transaction for a total of $26.4 million and had not sold any properties over the same time period.

The property

The retail condo in NoHo has 3,950 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has a total lot size of 3,950 square feet. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $5.5 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 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 NoHo, The majority, or 55 percent of the 3.8 million square feet of commercial built space are office buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 14 percent of the space. In sales, NoHo has 1.2 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $314.7 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 24th highest in Manhattan. For development, NoHo has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 400,498 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 10 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of eight of the 23 commercial properties representing 126,354 square feet of the 336,595 square feet. The largest owner is Cara Investment Gmbh, followed by Lagfin and then Steven Gautier-Winther.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 48 percent of the 336,595 square feet of built space are office buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 23 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Aetna Realty owned at least four commercial properties with 72 residential units in New York City with 54,750 square feet and a city-determined market value of $16.4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $11.8 million in debt, borrowed from Signature Bank and Centurian Capital. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 57 percent of the 54,750 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 28 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.

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