Bronfman family trust sells LIC artist studio to Building BK for $2.7M

The developer Building BK through the entity 49-01 5th St LLC paid $2.7 million to Edgar Bronfman Sr. through the entity Studioja L.L.C. for the industrial building (F4) at 49-01 5th Street in Long Island City, Queens. The expected use is ground up development, but that is not confirmed.
The deal closed on October 21, 2025 and was recorded on November 19, 2025. The property has 2,500 square feet of built space and 5,000 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 7,500 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $1,080 and the price per buildable square foot is $360 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 August 24, 2005, for $1.2 million. The signatory for the trust associated with Edgar Bronfman Sr. was an attorney, Almog Geva . The signatory for Building BK was Arie Bar Chaim . The contract date was April 2, 2025. This was a studio purchased in 2005 for Edgar Bronfman Sr.’s wife, the artist Jan Aronson. Edgar Bronfman Sr. died in 2013.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Building BK purchased two properties in two transactions for a total of $5.3 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Edgar Bronfman Sr. had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period. The 2,500-square-foot property generated revenue of $63,200 or $25 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The industrial building in Long Island City has 2,500 square feet of built space and 5,000 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 7,500 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 25 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 2,500 square feet. The zoning is M1-4/R6A which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing and up to 3 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $344,000.

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 Long Island City, The bulk, or 32 percent of the 60.1 million square feet of commercial built space are industrial buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 31 percent of the space. In sales, Long Island City has 3.3 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $982 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the highest in Queens. For development, Long Island City is the 9th most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 6.4 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 11 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of nine of the 23 commercial properties representing 66,950 square feet of the 142,353 square feet. The largest owner is New York Police Department, followed by Marrone Luigi and then Anthony Adams.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 16,688 square feet. It is a 15-unit, 16,688 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Vincenzo Acquista with plans filed January 17, 2012 and permitted June 8, 2017.

The majority, or 38 percent of the 142,353 square feet of built space are mixed-use buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 35 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Building Bk owned at least two commercial properties with 12 residential units in New York City with 5,244 square feet and a city-determined market value of $784,000. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 100 percent of the 5,244 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with specialty properties next occupying 0 percent of the space. They are all located in Brooklyn.

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