David Halberstam pays $4.8M for 20-unit dev site in Williamsburg

David Halberstam through the entity 630 Grand St LLC paid $4.8 million to Sal Gjenasaj, Phillip Gjenasaj, and Izzy Islam Gjenasaj through the entity Gjenasaj, Izzy Islam for two-unit building (B9) at 630 Grand Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

On the lot, there is one active new building construction project for a 20-unit, 13,691 square-foot R-2 building. The project was developed by David Halberstam with plans filed April 13, 2022 and it has not been permitted yet.
The deal closed on October 20, 2022 and was recorded on October 27, 2022. The property has 2,040 square feet of built space and 5,960 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 8,000 square feet according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $2,352 and the price per buildable square foot is $600 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.)

PincusCo considers this property a possible development parcel because of the high price per foot for the existing building.
The signatory for Sal Gjenasaj, Phillip Gjenasaj, and Izzy Islam Gjenasaj was Sal Gjenasaj, Phillip Gjenasaj, and Izzy Islam Gjenasaj. The signatory for David Halberstam was David Halberstam.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer David Halberstam purchased two properties in two transactions for a total of $14.9 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Sal Gjenasaj had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period.

The property

The 630 Grand Street parcel has frontage of 20 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 2,000 square feet. The zoning is C4-4A which allows for up to 4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 4 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.9 million.

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 not received any significant violations in the last year.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of four of the 16 commercial properties representing 72,548 square feet of the 122,971 square feet. The largest owner is NYC Department of Education, followed by Lazar Mauskopf and then Sol Ekstein.
On the tax block, there were three new building construction projects totaling 25,505 square feet. The largest is a 20-unit, 13,691-square-foot R-2 building developed by David Halberstam with plans filed April 13, 2022 and it has not been permitted yet.The second largest is a 11-unit, 7,314-square-foot R-2 building developed by Zalman Perl with plans filed March 20, 2015 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 44 percent of the 122,971 square feet of built space are specialty buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 29 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that David Halberstam owned at least five commercial properties in New York City with 21,300 square feet and a city-determined market value of $4.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $45 million in debt, borrowed from S3 Capital and Bank of Princeton. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 36 percent of the 21,300 square feet of built space are industrial properties, with mixed-use properties next occupying 34 percent of the space. They are all located in Brooklyn.

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