Davis Companies pays $12M for dev site in East Harlem

Davis Companies through the entity Harlem Multi One LLC paid $12 million to the entity 1975 Madison LLC for the development site (V1) at 1975 Madison Avenue at 45 East 126th Street in East Harlem, Manhattan. The prior owners were RoundSquare Development and Azimuth Development Group, but it’s unclear if they were the seller.
The deal closed on July 21, 2023 and was recorded on July 28, 2023.
The signatory for the seller was Michael C. Fox. The signatory for Davis Companies was Jonathan G. Davis. The contract date was July 21, 2023.

Davis Companies has acquired several properties in recent years.

The Real Deal reported that Azimuth Development Group and RoundSquare Development development and an unidentified partner bought this property in May 2019 for $16 million and borrowed $11.9 million from Optimum Asset Management.

On March 12, 2020, there was allegedly an accident at the church during demolition. In November 2020, Optimum Asset sold the note to a new entity Eloise 1975 Madison Credit SPV LLC in care of the Boston law firm Casner & Edwards.
According to a release from the commercial services firm Newmark, “The property, situated on the Northeast corner of Madison Avenue and 116th Street, is zoned for 80,942 square feet, totaling 116,840 gross square feet, and sits on a 20,561-square-foot, shovel-ready lot. The turn-key asset is vested in the 421-a program and is located in an opportunity zone with approved plans. Newmark’s Executive Managing Director Ron Solarz represents ownership on the offering.”

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 1971 Madison Avenue.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Davis Companies purchased one property in one transactions for a total of $51.2 million and sold one property in one transactions for a total of $24.1 million over the past 24 months.
The seller RoundSquare Development purchased one property in one transaction for a total of $8.8 million and sold one property in one transaction for a total of $16.7 million over the same time period.

The property

The parcel has frontage of 77 feet and is 145 feet deep with a total lot size of 13,168 square feet. The lot is irregular. 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 $323,000. The most recent loan totaled $11.9 million and was provided by Eloise 1975 Madiosn Credi Spv, LLC on November 30, 2020.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the properties have received four DOB violations, $2,250 in ECB penalties, and $2,550 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

On these lots, there is one active new building construction project for a 93-unit, 107,735 square-foot R-2 building. The project was submitted by Robert Kaliner with plans filed December 20, 2019 and permitted April 29, 2022.

The neighborhood

In East Harlem, The majority, or 51 percent of the 52.3 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 1.9 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $689.6 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 19th highest in Manhattan. For development, East Harlem has 2.9 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 12th highest in Manhattan. It had 3 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 6 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There were two pre-foreclosure suit filed among other development buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On the tax block of 1971 Madison Avenue, PincusCo has identified the owners of 17 of the 40 commercial properties representing 103,315 square feet of the 238,702 square feet. The largest owner is West Harlem Group Assistance, followed by Steven Barshov and then Sophie Emery.
On the tax block, there were five new building construction projects totaling 371,442 square feet. The largest is a 152-unit, 122,872 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Artimus and filed by Robert Ezrapour with plans filed June 21, 2019 and permitted April 1, 2022. The second largest is a 93-unit, 107,735 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Robert Kaliner with plans filed December 20, 2019 and permitted April 29, 2022.

The majority, or 50 percent of the 238,702 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 48 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Azimuth Development Group owned at least four commercial properties with 80 residential units in New York City with 149,420 square feet and a city-determined market value of $14.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $25.8 million in debt, with top three lenders as KeyBank, Raza Development Fund, Inc., and EB-5 New York State respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 59 percent of the 149,420 square feet of built space are specialty properties, with D6 properties next occupying 34 percent of the space. The bulk, or 93 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Bronx next at 7 percent of the space.
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Roundsquare Development owned at least two commercial properties with nine residential units in New York City with 8,510 square feet and a city-determined market value of $18.1 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 51 percent of the 8,510 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with C0 properties next occupying 49 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Davis Companies owned at least three commercial properties in New York City with 183,612 square feet and a city-determined market value of $11.5 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $117.7 million in debt, borrowed from Santander Bank and City National Bank. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 83 percent of the 183,612 square feet of built space are industrial properties, with F9 properties next occupying 17 percent of the space. The bulk, or 83 percent of the built space, is in Queens, with Manhattan next at 17 percent of the space.

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