Dovid Katz pays $5M to yeshiva for 29-unit walkup in Crown Heights

Dovid Katz through the entity 556 Crown St LLC paid $5 million to the women’s yeshiva Machon Chana Women’s Institute for the 29-unit residential walkup building (C7) at 556 Crown Street in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. The property is the address for the school on its website.
The deal closed on March 25, 2024 and was recorded on March 29, 2024. The property has 36,000 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $138 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 signatory for Machon Chana Women’s Institute was Sara Labkowski. The signatory for Dovid Katz was Dovid Yosef Katz. The contract date was September 7, 2023. The buyer entity is registered at the law offices of Smith Gambrell & Russell.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Dovid Katz purchased two properties in two transactions for a total of $4.6 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Machon Chana Women’s Institute had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period. The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Sarah Labkowsky, head officer and Shaul Cohen, officer. The business entity is Machon Chana Womens Institute Inc. The 36,000-square-foot property generated revenue of $643,475 or $18 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The residential walkup building with 29 residential units in Crown Heights has 36,000 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 100 feet and is 125 feet deep with a total lot size of 12,524 square feet. The zoning is R5 which allows for up to 1.25 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $2.6 million. The most recent loan totaled 0.0 and was provided by Jonathan Isaac on May 23, 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 one DOB violation, two housing violations, and $100 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $1 million on this tax lot.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of three of the 11 commercial properties representing 102,149 square feet of the 161,402 square feet. The largest owner is Machon Chana Women’s Institute, followed by Kenneth Rosenblum and then David Fischer.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 89 percent of the 161,402 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 11 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Machon Chana Women’s Institute owned at least one commercial property with 29 residential units in New York City with 36,000 square feet and a city-determined market value of $2.6 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio consists of at least a single walkup property. It is located in Brooklyn.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Dovid Katz owned at least two commercial properties with six residential units in New York City with 7,167 square feet and a city-determined market value of $1.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 84 percent of the 7,167 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with industrial properties next occupying 16 percent of the space. They are all located in Brooklyn.

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