Criterion Group pays $16M for industrial in Bronx

Criterion Group through the entity 1066 Zerega Avenue Industrial LLC paid $16 million to Beth Siegel through the entity Zerega Six Star, LLC for the industrial building (F5) at 1066 Zerega Avenue in Unionport, the Bronx.
The deal closed on April 25, 2023 and was recorded on May 2, 2023. The property has 30,050 square feet of built space and 127,713 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 155,748 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $532 and the price per buildable square foot is $102 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 May 30, 2007, for $2 million. The signatory for Beth Siegel was Beth Siegel. The signatory for Criterion Group was Yung Ching Siu. The property has been affiliated with Myron and Selina Siegel who bought the property following the bankruptcy of the prior owner. Columbia Pacific Advisors has a preferred interest in the property.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Criterion Group purchased four properties in two transactions for a total of $31.8 million and sold two properties in two transactions for a total of $97.5 million over the past 24 months.
The seller Beth Siegel had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period. The 30,050-square-foot property generated revenue of $442,854 or $15 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The industrial building in Unionport has 30,050 square feet of built space and 127,713 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 155,748 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 206 feet and is 427 feet deep with a total lot size of 77,874 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is M3-1 which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $2.3 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 five DOB violations, $655 in ECB penalties, and $655 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 $1 million on this tax lot.

The neighborhood

In Unionport, The bulk, or 32 percent of the 6.5 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 20 percent of the space. In sales, Unionport has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $337.2 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 3rd highest in Bronx. For development, Unionport has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 693,712 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

There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

All properties are industrial.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Criterion Group owned at least seven commercial properties in New York City with 50,300 square feet. The portfolio has $74.2 million in debt, with top three lenders as New York Community Bank, Bernd Messing, and Stephanie Messing respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 100 percent of the 50,300 square feet of built space are industrial properties, with development properties next occupying 0 percent of the space. The bulk, or 86 percent of the built space, is in Bronx, with Queens next at 14 percent of the space.

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