David Goldberger signs contract to buy dev site from Golani Development in East Harlem

UPDATED 9 p.m., December 15, 2025: David Goldberger through the entity East Harlem Residents LLC signed a contract to pay an undisclosed amount to Golani Development Group through the entity East 120th Holdings LLC for the development site (V1) at 2197 Third Avenue in East Harlem, Manhattan. The expected use is ground up development.

On the lot, there was one active new building construction project, 121205098, filed with the city’s Department of Buildings, for a 139-unit, 107,218 square-foot residential (R-2) building. The project was submitted by Sharon Kahen with plans filed April 8, 2019 and permitted June 13, 2022, but the project status is currently listed as “job on hold” according to DOB records.
David Goldberger made a $1.4 million deposit on December 10, according to the filing. The closing is set for December 9, 2026.
The memorandum of contract was dated December 9, 2025 and was recorded on December 12, 2025. The property has zero square feet of built space and 93,000 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 93,000 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data.
The seller bought the property on January 31, 2019, for $10 million. The signatory for Golani Development Group was Sharon Kahen . The signatory for David Goldberger was David Goldberger. The contract date was December 10, 2025.

Sadya Liberow and Yuriy Ustoyev of Asset CRG Advisors, represented both sides of the transaction.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer David Goldberger had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Golani Development Group purchased one property in one transaction for a total of $1.8 million and had not sold any properties over the same time period.

The property

The parcel has frontage of 95 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 9,300 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is C4-6 which allows for up to 3.4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 10 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $2 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 one DOB violation, $19,375 in ECB penalties, and $20,575 in OATH penalties in the last year.

The neighborhood

In East Harlem, The majority, or 51 percent of the 52.4 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 21 percent of the space. In sales, East Harlem has 1.7 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $526.9 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 18th highest in Manhattan. For development, East Harlem has 1.7 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 15th highest in Manhattan. It had 2.7 million 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 this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of eight of the 16 commercial properties representing 223,321 square feet of the 261,425 square feet. The largest owner is Nyc Department Of Education, followed by Golani Development Group and then Start Treatment & Recovery Centers, Inc..
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 135,406 square feet. The largest is a 139-unit, 107,218 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Sharon Kahen with plans filed April 8, 2019 and permitted June 13, 2022. The second largest is a 45-unit, 28,188 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by David Tong and filed by David Tong with plans filed April 24, 2018 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 45 percent of the 261,425 square feet of built space are specialty buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 24 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Golani Development Group owned at least three commercial properties with 86 residential units in New York City with 114,286 square feet and a city-determined market value of $23.5 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $32.5 million in debt, borrowed from Societe Generale and Signature Bank. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 97 percent of the 114,286 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with mixed-use properties next occupying 3 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.

Updated with broker information.

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