Geneva Transatlantic Holdings pays $9M for development parcel in Clinton Hill

Geneva Transatlantic Holdings through the entity 257 Washington Owner LLC paid $9 million through a bankruptcy for the specialty building (M1) at 257 Washington Avenue in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. The expected use is conversion/addition. The former owner was Serabjit Singh Malhotra.
The deal closed on February 7, 2025 and was recorded on February 14, 2025. The property has 29,250 square feet of built space and 2,720 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 32,000 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $307 and the price per buildable square foot is $281 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 former owner bought the property on July 31, 2019, for $13.5 million. The signatory for the bankruptcy on behalf of Serabjit Singh Malhotra was Joel Shafferman. The signatory for Geneva Transatlantic Holdings was Michael J. Levy. The contract date was July 22, 2024. Malhotra filed a $15 million bankruptcy in the Eastern District of New York, 1-24-42152-JMM.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Geneva Transatlantic Holdings had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Serabjit Singh Malhotra had not purchased any other properties and sold one property in one transaction for a total of $12.1 million over the same time period.

The property

The specialty building in Clinton Hill has 29,250 square feet of built space and 2,720 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 32,000 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 80 feet and is 200 feet deep with a total lot size of 16,000 square feet. The zoning is R6B which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The property is in the Clinton Hill Historic District. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $3.6 million. The most recent loan totaled 0.0 and was provided by Wachtel Missry registered on May 6, 2024.

Violations and lawsuits

The property was involved in one lawsuit and one bankruptcy over the past two years. The suit was a $31.8 million money judgment concerning a judgment filed on April 26, 2024, by A10 Capital against Serabjit Singh Malhotra. The bankruptcy was filed on May 22, 2024, by Serabjit Singh Malhotra citing assets of $15.1 million. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received two DOB violations, one housing violation, and $3,860 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

On the lot, there is one active major alteration construction project, 321095088, for a 30-unit, 31,920 square-foot R-2 building. The project was submitted by Singh Serabjit with plans filed January 29, 2016 and it has not been permitted yet.

The neighborhood

In Clinton Hill, The bulk, or 34 percent of the 10.8 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 17 percent of the space. In sales, Clinton Hill has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $302 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 23rd highest in Brooklyn. For development, Clinton Hill has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 190,138 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 three of the 11 commercial properties representing 92,342 square feet of the 127,308 square feet. The largest owner is Kaled Management, followed by Miller Management and then Raquel Ayala.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 70 percent of the 127,308 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 26 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Serabjit Singh Malhotra owned at least one commercial property in New York City with 29,250 square feet and a city-determined market value of $3.6 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio consists of at least a single M1 property. It is located in Brooklyn.

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