Chestnut Holdings acquires bankrupt 182-unit rental in Concourse valued at $18M

Chestnut Holdings of New York through the entity Walton Improvement Group LLC acquired for the 182-unit residential elevator building (D7) at 975 Walton Avenue in Concourse, Bronx, through a bankruptcy. The transfer value was $18 million. The former owner was Benzion Kohn of the entity 975 Walton Bronx LLC.
The deal closed on December 28, 2023 and was recorded on January 9, 2024. The property has 279,000 square feet of built space and 70,982 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 350,255 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $64 and the price per buildable square foot is $51 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.)
To finance the purchase, Chestnut Holdings of New York through the entity Walton Improvement Group LLC as borrower signed an acquisition loan with lender Beltway Capital Management through the entity Mccormick 101, LLC valued at $13.4 million for the 182-unit residential elevator building (D7) at 975 Walton Avenue in Concourse, Bronx.
The seller bought the property on April 1, 2015, for $30 million. The signatory for the seller was Kevin J. Nash, a bankruptcy attorney. The signatory for Chestnut Holdings of New York was Daniel Wiener. The contract date was October 26, 2023. This is a bankruptcy case, 21-40487, filed to block a foreclosure case 802465/2021E. Jonathan Wiener of Chestnut Holdings was suing to foreclose on a $21.7 million loan secured by 975 Walton Avenue. According to the foreclosure case, Benzion Kohn was named by virtue of: his execution of the Loan Documents in his capacity Managing Member of 15-21 Crooke LLC, as Sole Member of Borrower.

Prior sales and revenue

The seller Benzion Kohn had not purchased any other properties and sold one property in one transaction for a total of $2.3 million over the same time period. The former owner according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development is Juda Stern, head officer. The business entity is 975 Walton Bronx Llc. The 279,000-square-foot property generated revenue of $2.8 million or $10 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The residential elevator building with 182 residential units in Concourse has 279,000 square feet of built space and 70,982 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 350,255 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 290 feet and is 200 feet deep with a total lot size of 58,182 square feet. The zoning is R8 which allows for up to 6.02 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The property is in the Grand Concourse Historic District. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $11 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 $5,120 in ECB penalties, 716 housing violations, $13,745 in OATH penalties, and four housing litigations 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 nine of the 14 commercial properties representing 437,216 square feet of the 754,789 square feet. The largest owner is Shimon Greisman, followed by Prana Investments and then Finkelstein Timberger East Real Estate.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 91 percent of the 754,789 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 4 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Benzion Kohn owned at least one commercial property with 16 residential units in New York City with 11,552 square feet and a city-determined market value of $1.6 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio consists of at least a single walkup property. It is located in Brooklyn.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Chestnut Holdings Of New York owned at least 145 commercial properties with 6,216 residential units in New York City with 6,018,772 square feet and a city-determined market value of $421.5 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 59 percent of the 6,018,772 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 40 percent of the space. The bulk, or 85 percent of the built space, is in Bronx, with Manhattan next at 9 percent of the space.

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