Christopher Merone pays $3.3M for mixed-use in Carroll Gardens, owns across street

Christopher Merone through the entity 46 Northover Pl LLC paid $3.3 million to the Frank Esposito estate for the three-unit mixed-use building (S3) at 357 Court Street in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.
The deal closed on March 16, 2023 and was recorded on March 20, 2023. The property has 4,400 square feet of built space according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $750 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 Frank Esposito estate was John Esposito. The signatory for Christopher Merone was Christopher Merone. Christopher Merone owns the building almost directly across the street at 356 Court Street, which he has owned since 1991.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Christopher Merone had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Frank Esposito estate had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period. The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Frank Esposito, head officer and John Esposito, individual owner. The business entity is Corporation.

The property

The 357 Court Street parcel has frontage of 22 feet and is 93 feet deep with a total lot size of 1,100 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R6A which allows for up to 3 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.5 million.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property since September of 2020. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $350 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $5 million on this tax lot.

The neighborhood

In Carroll Gardens, the bulk, or 44 percent of the 3.6 million square feet of commercial built space are walkup buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 33 percent of the space. In sales, Carroll Gardens has had very little sales volume relative to other neighborhoods with $292.3 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Carroll Gardens has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 127,934 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 4 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of one of the 12 commercial properties representing 11,186 square feet of the 57,474 square feet. The identified owner is ELH Mgmt.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 57 percent of the 45,777 square feet of built space are mixed-use buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 34 percent of the space.

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