Elie Fouerti pays $8.8M to Kano Real Estate for dev site in Yorkville

Developer Elie Fouerti through the entity 1477 Yorkville LLC paid $8.8 million to Kano Real Estate Investors through the entity Third Avenue 1477 LLC for the mixed-use building (K2) at 1477 Third Avenue in Yorkville, Manhattan.
On the lot, there is one active new building construction project for a nine-unit, 25,754 square-foot residential (R-2) building. The project was submitted by Kano Real Estate and filed by Noam Shemel with plans filed December 9, 2022 and it has not been permitted yet.
The deal closed on December 22, 2023 and was recorded on January 2, 2024. The property has 4,745 square feet of built space and 21,209 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 25,960 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per buildable square foot is $337 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 July 15, 2022, for $8.5 million. The signatory for Kano Real Estate Investors was Noam Shemel. The signatory for Elie Fouerti, an active New York City real estate developer, was Mikhail Litt. The contract date was December 22, 2023. Kano Real Estate Investors also uses the name Kano Real Estate Investments.

Mikhail Litt is an attorney with Tsyngauz & Associates.

Noam Shemel, principal of Kano Real Estate Investors, submitted a new building construction project for a nine-unit, 25,754 square-foot residential (R-2) building at 1477 Third Avenue in Yorkville, Manhattan. All the residential units will be duplexes. The plan was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings on December 9, 2022 under job number M08025206. It calls for the construction of a 15-story building with retail on the first floor, and duplex apartments on the second to 15th floors. The architect is BKSK Architects.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Elie Fouerti had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Kano Real Estate Investors purchased one property in one transaction for a total of $8.5 million and had not sold any properties over the same time period. The 4,745-square-foot property generated revenue of $528,500 or $111 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The mixed-use building in Yorkville has 4,745 square feet of built space and 21,209 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 25,960 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 25 feet and is 101 feet deep with a total lot size of 2,596 square feet. The zoning is C1-9 which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 10 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $2.5 million.

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 $2,925 in OATH penalties in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Yorkville, The majority, or 61 percent of the 26.6 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 28 percent of the space. In sales, Yorkville has 2.2 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $713.6 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 17th highest in Manhattan. For development, Yorkville has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 385,740 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 1 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of eight of the 22 commercial properties representing 81,348 square feet of the 248,843 square feet. The largest owner is Sky Management, followed by S.W. Management and then LC Lemle Real Estate Group.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 25,754 square feet. It is a nine-unit, 25,754 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Kano Real Estate and filed by Noam Shemel with plans filed December 9, 2022 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 39 percent of the 248,843 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 29 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Kano Real Estate Investors owned at least 18 commercial properties with 136 residential units in New York City with 151,737 square feet and a city-determined market value of $83.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $70.2 million in debt, borrowed from Israel Discount Bank and JPMorgan Chase. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 52 percent of the 151,737 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with mixed-use properties next occupying 21 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Elie Fouerti owned at least eight commercial properties with 219 residential units in New York City with 35,984 square feet and a city-determined market value of $11.7 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $80.2 million in debt, borrowed from Popular Bank. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 55 percent of the 35,984 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with mixed-use properties next occupying 17 percent of the space. The bulk, or 64 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 36 percent of the space.

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