Civic Builders pays $15.9M to Anthony Martello for school property in Westchester Square

Civic Builders through the entity Civic Bx LLC paid $15.9 million to Anthony Martello through the entity 1529 Williamsbridge LLC for the specialty building (W1) at 1539 Williamsbridge Road in Westchester Square, Bronx, office building (O2) at 1529 Williamsbridge Road in Westchester Square, Bronx, and industrial building (G7) at 2583 Poplar Street in Westchester Square, Bronx. The expected use is cash flowing.

The deal closed on June 5, 2025 and was recorded on June 16, 2025. The three properties have 32,280 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $492 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 Anthony Martello was Anthony Martello. The signatory for Civic Builders was David Umansky . The contract date was December 10, 2024. Civic Builders signed a 45-year ground lease as landlord with the social services nonprofit East Side House, and Haven Charter School signed a sublease with sublandlord East Side House.

Simultaneously with the purchase, the buyer and Haven Charter School borrowed $23.7 million for the acquisition and build out of the school.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Civic Builders purchased one property in one transaction for a total of $9.3 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Anthony Martello had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period. Out of the three properties, one with a total of 32,280 square feet of built space generated revenue of $441,564 per year.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the properties for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have received one DOB violation 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 Westchester Square, The bulk, or 30 percent of the 5.3 million square feet of commercial built space are walkup buildings, with office buildings next occupying 18 percent of the space. In sales, Westchester Square has had very little sales volume relative to other neighborhoods with $81.8 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Westchester Square has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 256,648 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 5 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On the tax block of 1539 Williamsbridge Road, PincusCo has identified the owners of three of the five commercial properties representing 32,280 square feet of the 35,859 square feet. The identified owner is Anthony Martello.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 90 percent of the 35,859 square feet of built space are office buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 10 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Anthony Martello owned at least seven commercial properties in New York City with 206,162 square feet and a city-determined market value of $46.4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $74 million in debt, with top three lenders as New York Community Bank, Tomkins Community Bank, and Tompkins Community Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 100 percent of the 206,162 square feet of built space are office properties, with industrial properties next occupying 0 percent of the space. They are all located in Bronx.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Civic Builders owned at least seven commercial properties in New York City with 67,037 square feet and a city-determined market value of $14 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $99 million in debt, with top three lenders as New York City Regional Center affiliate, JPMorgan Chase, and Dime Community Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 57 percent of the 67,037 square feet of built space are specialty properties, with retail properties next occupying 26 percent of the space. The bulk, or 56 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Bronx next at 44 percent of the space.

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