Eugene Khody, Aleksandra Kogen pay $5.7M for dev site in Crown Heights

Eugene Khody and Aleksandra Kogen through the entity 820 Bergen 123 LLC paid $5.7 million through a judicial foreclosure for a property formerly owned by Mylene Liggett for the development parcel (V0) at 820 Bergen Street in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. The expected use is ground up development.
The deal closed on September 16, 2024 and was recorded on September 17, 2024. The property has zero square feet of built space and 19,647 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 19,647 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per buildable square foot is $289 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 the court was M. Randolph Jackson. The signatory for Eugene Khody and Aleksandra Kogen was Eugene Khody. The contract date was February 29, 2024. This is a foreclosure filed in Brooklyn under index number 500875/2017 that Urban Standard Capital filed against the borrower. According to the deed, $5.5 million was the highest sum bid at the auction on February 29, 2024 by 820 Bergen 123 LLC. This property was also subject to a bankruptcy. M. Randolph Jackson is the referee. Eastern District bankruptcy 23-42181, the chapter 7 stay was lifted October 31, 2023.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Eugene Khody had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Mylene Liggett had not purchased any other properties and sold two properties in one transaction for a total of $1.9 million over the same time period.

The property

The parcel has frontage of 50 feet and is 131 feet deep with a total lot size of 6,549 square feet. The zoning is R6A which allows for up to 3 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $808,000.

Violations and lawsuits

The property was involved in one lawsuit and one bankruptcy. The bankruptcy was filed on June 22, 2023, by Mylene Liggett citing assets of $3.6 million. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $3,800 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

On the lot, there is one active new building construction project, 321023334, for a 18-unit, 19,622 square-foot R-2 building. The project was submitted by Mylene Liggett with plans filed November 18, 2014 and it has not been permitted yet.

The neighborhood

In Crown Heights, The bulk, or 39 percent of the 46.5 million square feet of commercial built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 36 percent of the space. In sales, Crown Heights has 2.4 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $617.2 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 7th highest in Brooklyn. For development, Crown Heights has 1.9 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 6th highest in Brooklyn. 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 11 of the 13 commercial properties representing 427,136 square feet of the 438,186 square feet. The largest owner is NYC Department Of Education, followed by Abraham Hoffman and then Oaktree Residential.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 19,622 square feet. It is a 18-unit, 19,622 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Mylene Liggett with plans filed November 18, 2014 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 44 percent of the 438,186 square feet of built space are specialty buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 37 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Eugene Khody owned at least one commercial property with eight residential units in New York City with 6,028 square feet and a city-determined market value of $1.2 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.

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