Empire Management files to demolish 45-unit rental in Kips Bay, no new building plans filed

Fred Ohebshalom’s Empire Management filed plans to demolish a 45-unit rental buildings at 355 Third Avenue in Kips Bay, Manhattan, at the corner of East 26th Street. The plan was filed under job number M00865668 on May 3, 2023. The demolition had an estimated cost of $800,000.

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Empire Management owned at least 14 commercial properties with 745,599 square feet, 553 residential units and a city-determined market value of $159.5 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $228.9 million in debt, with top three lenders as New York Community Bank, Santander Bank, and Dime Community Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 72 percent of the 745,599 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with H1 properties next occupying 17 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.

The property

The elevator building with 45 residential units in Kips Bay has 37,062 square feet of built space and 45,325 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 82,410 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 74 feet and is 110 feet deep with a total lot size of 8,241 square feet. The zoning is C2-8 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 $14.1 million.

Prior sales and revenue

This property was sold for $19.2 million on August 2, 2007.

The 37,062-square-foot property generated revenue of $2.2 million or $59 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has received $400 in OATH penalties in the last year.

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months.

The neighborhood

In Kips Bay, The bulk, or 50 percent of the 21.5 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 32 percent of the space. In sales, Kips Bay has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $815.7 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 17th highest in Manhattan. For development, Kips Bay has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 31st highest in Manhattan. It had 505,163 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 2 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 13 of the 24 commercial properties representing 159,937 square feet of the 320,188 square feet. The largest owner is Croman Real Estate, followed by Dave Vadehra and then Doria Steedman. There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The owner

The owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Ramin Shalom, head officer and Fred Shalom, officer. The business entity is Redrock-Fo.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 355 3 Avenue, PincusCo identified six commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those six items, six were loans above $5 million totaling $166.1 million. The most recent of the six was A&R Kalimian Realty in which borrowed $9.5 million from Dime Community Bank secured by the 151,346-square-foot, 185-unit rental (D6) on 344 3rd Avenue on September 21, 2022.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.