Coliving firm Aya pays $44M to Kokot Realty for 7 rental properties in Manhattan

The coliving firm Aya paid $44 million to Kokot Realty Enterprises for six residential walkup properties and one elevator building, in Manhattan in six separate transactions.

In the first, Aya through the entity Gmart Ny 2022 LLC paid $11.8 million to Kokot Realty Enterprises through the entity East 14th Street Realty, Lp for the midblock 20-unit residential walkup building at 640 East 14th Street in Alphabet City, Manhattan and midblock 20-unit residential walkup building at 638 East 14th Street in Alphabet City, Manhattan.
The deal closed on June 9, 2022 and was recorded on June 28, 2022. The two properties have 21,640 square feet of built space according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $545 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.)

In the second, Aya through the entity Gmart Ny 2022 LLC paid $11.8 million to Kokot Realty Enterprises through the entity 217 E. 22nd St. Associates, L.P. for the midblock 35-unit residential elevator building at 217 East 22nd Street in Gramercy, Manhattan. The property has 17,526 square feet of built space and 7,889 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 25,398 square feet according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $673 and the price per buildable square foot is $464 per the PincusCo analysis.

In the third, Aya through the entity Gmart Ny 2022 LLC paid $5.7 million to Kokot Realty Enterprises through the entity Village Realty Partners, L.P. for the midblock 21-unit residential walkup building at 239 West 15th Street in Chelsea, Manhattan. The property has 9,645 square feet of built space and 401 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 10,036 square feet according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $590 and the price per buildable square foot is $567 per the PincusCo analysis.

In the fourth, Aya through the entity Gmart Ny 2022 LLC paid $5.4 million to Kokot Realty Enterprises through the entity Dos Passos LLC for midblock 10-unit residential walkup building at 67 St Marks Place in East Village, Manhattan. The property has 9,540 square feet of built space according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $566 per the PincusCo analysis.

In the fifth, Aya through the entity Gmart Ny 2022 LLC paid $4.9 million to Kokot Realty Enterprises through the entity Dos Passos LLC for midblock 10-unit residential walkup building at 426 East 77th Street in Lenox Hill, Manhattan. The property has 9,015 square feet of built space and 1,200 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 10,216 square feet according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $543 and the price per buildable square foot is $479 per the PincusCo analysis.

In the sixth, Aya through the entity Gmart Ny 2022 LLC paid $4.4 million to Kokot Realty Enterprises through the entity Village Realty Partners, L.P. for midblock 12-unit residential walkup building at 106 East 7th Street in East Village, Manhattan.
The deal closed on June 9, 2022 and was recorded on June 28, 2022.The property has 8,870 square feet of built space and 204 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 9,084 square feet according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $496 and the price per buildable square foot is $484 per the PincusCo analysis

The signatory for Kokot Realty Enterprises was Arthur Kokot. The signatory for Aya was Amir Shriki.

Because multiple properties have been transacted, some of the following sections will follow the property with the largest assessed value, which in this case, is the property on 640 East 14th Street.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, Pincusco has records that the buyer Aya purchased three properties in two transactions for a total of $22.8 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Kokot Realty Enterprises had not purchased any other properties and sold two properties in two transactions for a total of $10 million over the same time period. The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Arthur Kokot, head officer and Nelson Sepulveda, site manager. The business entities are Provident Management Corp and East 14th Street Realty Lp. The two properties with a total of 21,640 square feet of built space generated revenue of $995,714 per year or $46 per square foot. The sale price per square foot was $545.

The property

The 640 East 14th Street parcel has frontage of 27 feet and is 103 feet deep with a total lot size of 2,831 square feet. The zoning is R7-2 which allows for up to 3.44 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $2.8 million.The most recent loan totaled $15 million and was provided by Citibank on March 22, 2021.

The neighborhood

In Alphabet City, the majority, or 52 percent of the 15.7 million square feet of commercial built space are residential elevator buildings, with residential walkup buildings next occupying 27 percent of the space. In sales, Alphabet City has had very little sales volume relative to other neighborhoods with $113.8 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Alphabet City has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 185,104 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 1 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On the tax block of 640 East 14th Street, PincusCo has identified the owners of five of the 12 commercial properties representing 514,995 square feet of the 553,176 square feet. The largest owner is New York City Housing Authority, followed by Kokot Realty Enterprises and then Madison Realty Capital. There is one active new building construction project totaling 63,932 square feet. It is a 50-unit, 63,932-square-foot R-2 building developed by Simon Dushinsky with plans filed April 9, 2014 and permitted December 9, 2015.

the majority, or 79 percent of the 617,734 square feet of built space are residential elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 11 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Kokot Realty Enterprises owned at least 14 commercial properties with 178,114 square feet and a city-determined market value of $49.9 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $15 million in debt, borrowed from Citibank. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 61 percent of the 178,114 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with elevator properties next occupying 39 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Aya owned at least three commercial properties with 37,077 square feet and a city-determined market value of $12.9 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 84 percent of the 37,077 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 16 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.

Surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 640 East 14th Street, PincusCo identified one commercial real estate item of interests occurred over the past 24 months.
It was a permit application filed on June 14, 2022 for the $350,000 renovation of 8,846,344-square-foot RES building with 275 residential units at 625 East 14th Street.

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