Firebird Grove pays $6M for 11-unit walkup in Little Italy

Firebird Grove through the entity Or 169 Mulberry, LLC paid $6 million to Kokot Realty Enterprises through the entity Manhattan Transfer, L.P. for the 11-unit residential walkup building (C7) at 169 Mulberry Street in Little Italy, Manhattan. Firebird Grove is affiliated with Oculus Realty, which counts billionaire Nicholas Berggruen as an investor.
The deal closed on September 27, 2023 and was recorded on October 5, 2023. The property has 11,460 square feet of built space and 3,438 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 14,893 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $523 and the price per buildable square foot is $402 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 Kokot Realty Enterprises was Arthur Kokot. The signatory for Firebird Grove was Adam J. Semler. The contract date was June 1, 2023. This is Firebird Grove’s first purchase in a year. The last was October 20, 2023.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Firebird Grove purchased 16 properties in six transactions for a total of $61.1 million and sold one property in one transaction for a total of $2.2 million over the past 24 months.
The seller Kokot Realty Enterprises had not purchased any other properties and sold nine properties in seven transactions for a total of $54.8 million over the same time period. The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Arthur Kokot, head officer and Patrick Gilroy, agent. The business entities are Provident Management Corp. and Manhattan Transfer Lp.

The property

The residential walkup building with 11 residential units in Little Italy has 11,460 square feet of built space and 3,438 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 14,893 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 25 feet and is 99 feet deep with a total lot size of 2,474 square feet. The lot is irregular. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $2.7 million. The most recent loan totaled $13.2 million and was provided by New York Community Bank on December 13, 2021.

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 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 10 of the 39 commercial properties representing 153,847 square feet of the 425,546 square feet. The largest owner is Witnick Real Estate Partners, followed by Solil Management and then Provident Management.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 53 percent of the 425,546 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 24 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Kokot Realty Enterprises owned at least five commercial properties with 91 residential units in New York City with 88,629 square feet and a city-determined market value of $16.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 58 percent of the 88,629 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 42 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Firebird Grove owned at least 44 commercial properties with 365 residential units in New York City with 324,507 square feet and a city-determined market value of $151.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $10 million in debt, borrowed from Signature Bank and Derby Copeland Capital. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 55 percent of the 324,507 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with mixed-use properties next occupying 32 percent of the space. The bulk, or 51 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Manhattan next at 49 percent of the space.

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