Diamond National Investments pays $4M to Assembly OSM for development in East Harlem

Diamond National Investments through the entity Crystal House At East Harlem LLC paid $4 million to Assembly OSM through the entity 247 E 117 Street LLC for the development site (V1) at 247 East 117th Street in East Harlem, Manhattan. The expected use is ground up development.

On the lot, there was one new building construction project, 123265484, for a 48-unit, 35,347 square-foot R-2 building. The project was submitted by HAP Investments and filed by Monzer Khafagy with plans filed December 8, 2017 and permitted June 13, 2022.
The deal closed on March 31, 2025 and was recorded on April 3, 2025. The property has zero square feet of built space and 31,298 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 31,298 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per buildable square foot is $127 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 17, 2023, for $4.1 million. The signatory for Assembly OSM was Andrew Staniforth . The signatory for Diamond National Investments was Menachem Chazanow . The contract date was March 31, 2025.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Diamond National Investments had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Assembly OSM purchased one property in one transaction for a total of $4.1 million and had not sold any properties over the same time period.

The property

The parcel has frontage of 55 feet and is 75 feet deep with a total lot size of 4,162 square feet. The zoning is R9A which allows for up to 7.52 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.1 million. The most recent loan totaled 0.0 and was provided by River Rock Associates and PILOT Real Estate Group on October 13, 2022.

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 $3,050 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 2.2 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $588.9 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 20th highest in Manhattan. For development, East Harlem has 1.8 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 20th highest in Manhattan. It had 2.1 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 4 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 14 of the 26 commercial properties representing 226,951 square feet of the 264,940 square feet. The largest owner is Edmound Nahum, followed by Emerald Equity Group and then Bronstein Properties.
On the tax block, there were three new building construction projects totaling 67,422 square feet. The largest is a 48-unit, 35,347 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by HAP Investments and filed by Monzer Khafagy with plans filed December 8, 2017 and permitted June 13, 2022. The second largest is a 30-unit, 22,106 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Alan Getz with plans filed October 23, 2015 and permitted December 30, 2015.

The majority, or 56 percent of the 264,940 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 14 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Diamond National Investments owned at least seven commercial properties with one residential unit in New York City with 1,024 square feet and a city-determined market value of $1.4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $122.5 million in debt, borrowed from Popular Bank. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 100 percent of the 1,024 square feet of built space are A9 properties, with industrial properties next occupying 0 percent of the space. They are all located in Bronx.

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