David Habif pays $7.8M to Churchill Real Estate for 23-unit rental in Dumbo

David Habif through the entity 57 Jay Owner 2 LLC paid $7.8 million to Churchill Real Estate Holdings through the entity 57 Jay Street LLC for the 23-unit residential elevator building (D5) at 57 Jay Street in DUMBO, Brooklyn.
The deal closed on July 13, 2022 and was recorded on July 29, 2022. The property has 27,448 square feet of built space and 4,891 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 32,357 square feet according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $285 and the price per buildable square foot is $242 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 last prior deed transfer was on August 13, 2014, for $10 million. The signatory for Churchill Real Estate Holdings was Sorabh Maheshwari. The signatory for David Habif was David Habif. Joshua Habif is listed on LLC registration as an officer of the buyer. Graham Jones and Gregory Jones bought it for $10 million in 2014. The Real Deal reported in early June 2019 that Churchill signed a contract to buy 57 Jay for $16 million. No deed or other transfer document was ever recorded for that transfer, but in late June 2019 Churchill’s Maheshwari signed for a refinanced $8 million loan with Signature Bank. The sale would represent a loss in value for the asset.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, Pincusco has no record that the buyer David Habif had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Churchill Real Estate Holdings purchased one property in one transaction for a total of $6.5 million and sold seven properties in two transactions for a total of $24.5 million over the same time period. The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Sorabh Maheshwari, head officer and Ray Deguzman, site manager. The business entities are Livingston Management Services and 57 Jay Street Llc. The 27,448-square-foot property generated revenue of $1.1 million or $39 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The 57 Jay Street parcel has frontage of 50 feet and is 107 feet deep with a total lot size of 5,375 square feet. The zoning is M1-4/R8A which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing and up to 6.02 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The property is in the DUMBO Historic District. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $5 million.The most recent loan totaled $8 million and was provided by Signature Bank on October 10, 2020.

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 five DOB violations, $71,110 in ECB penalties, 54 housing violations, $77,785 in OATH penalties, and one housing litigation in the last year.

Development

For the tax lot building, it received its initial certificate of occupancy on May 5, 2017. There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $5 million on this tax lot.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of six of the seven commercial properties representing 366,658 square feet of the 367,039 square feet. The largest owner is GDC Properties, followed by Carlyle Group and then Jack Guttman. There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 92 percent of the 366,658 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with office buildings next occupying 5 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Churchill Real Estate Holdings owned at least 12 commercial properties in New York City with 277,778 square feet and a city-determined market value of $88.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $169.6 million in debt, with top three lenders as Square Mile Capital Management, Keysite Capital Partners, and Silver Point Capital respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 30 percent of the 277,778 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 22 percent of the space. The bulk, or 90 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 10 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that David Habif owned at least one commercial property in New York City with 7,110 square feet and a city-determined market value of $6.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio consists of at least a single walkup property. It is located in Manhattan.

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