Forkosh pays $12M for three walkups on 61st Street in Lenox Hill

Forkosh Development Group paid the Hood family $12 million for three walkup properties on a block of East 61st Street in Lenox Hill, Manhattan in three separate transactions. The properties are 122, 124 and 130 East 61st Street. There are two single-family properties at 126 and 128 East 61st Street.

In the first, Forkosh Development Group through the entity 130 East 61st Street, LLC paid $5.7 million to Christine Ausnit Hood and Byron Hood through the entity Astep Inc. for the nine-unit residential walkup building (C7) at 130 East 61st Street in Lenox Hill, Manhattan.
The deal closed on May 3, 2023 and was recorded on May 12, 2023. The property has 8,450 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $674 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 Christine Ausnit Hood and Byron Hood was Byron Hood. The signatory for Forkosh Development Group was Alexander Forkosh. Forkosh now owns three tax lots in a stretch of five tax lots. Two single-family townhomes at 126 and 128 East 61st Street do not show Forkosh as an owner.

In the second, Forkosh Development Group through the entity 122 East 61st Street, LLC paid $3.2 million to Christine Ausnit Hood and Byron Hood through the entity Astep Inc. for the 10-unit residential walkup building (C5) at 122 East 61st Street in Lenox Hill, Manhattan. The deal closed on May 3, 2023 and was recorded on May 12, 2023. The property has 5,320 square feet of built space and 1,896 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 7,224 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $610 and the price per buildable square foot is $449 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 Christine Ausnit Hood and Byron Hood was Byron Hood. The signatory for Forkosh Development Group was Alexander Forkosh.

In the third, Forkosh bought the seven-unit residential walkup building (C5) at 124 East 61st Street in Lenox Hill, Manhattan.
The deal closed on May 3, 2023 and was recorded on May 11, 2023. The property has 5,584 square feet of built space and 1,646 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 7,236 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $546 and the price per buildable square foot is $421 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.)

Forkosh Development developed a condominium project at a former storage building at 305 East 61st Street. https://newyorkyimby.com/2023/05/305-east-61st-streets-residential-conversion-progresses-on-manhattans-upper-east-side.html

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Forkosh Development Group purchased two properties in two transactions for a total of $38 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Christine Ausnit Hood had not purchased any other properties and sold one properties in one transactions for a total of $3 million over the same time period. The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Christine Ausnit Hood, head officer and Anne Ausnit, officer. The business entities are Xl Real Property Management and Astep Inc.

The property

The residential walkup building with 9 residential units in Lenox Hill has 8,450 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 24 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 2,007 square feet. The zoning is R8B which allows for up to 4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $8.2 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 not received any significant violations 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 16 of the 37 commercial properties representing 64,594 square feet of the 404,431 square feet. The largest owner is Vrahos Llc, followed by Kahen Properties and then Icon Realty Management.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 7,916 square feet. It is a seven-unit, 7,916 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Majid Kahen with plans filed March 4, 2022 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 56 percent of the 404,431 square feet of built space are office buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 19 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Forkosh Development Group owned at least seven commercial properties with 272 residential units in New York City with 436,154 square feet and a city-determined market value of $65.5 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $274 million in debt, with top three lenders as Webster Bank, Sovcombank, and PCCP respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 66 percent of the 436,154 square feet of built space are hotel properties, with elevator properties next occupying 15 percent of the space. The bulk, or 96 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 4 percent of the space.

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