Golden East Investors pays $13.5M for William Koeppel’s bankrupt 137-unit Turtle Bay rental ground lease

Golden East Investors through the entity Mazal Echad LLC paid $13.5 million through a bankruptcy for the 137-unit residential elevator building (D6) at 350 East 52nd Street in Turtle Bay, Manhattan, that was formerly owned by William Koeppel through the entity Eastgate Whitehouse LLC. This is a ground lease sale. The fee is owned by Solil Management, which controls the assets of the estate of Sol Goldman. The prior debt was $32 million.
The deal closed on December 3, 2025 and was recorded on December 19, 2025. The property has 142,767 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $94 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.)

To finance the purchase, Golden East Investors obtained a $12.045 million loan from Farmers Life Insurance Company.
The seller bought the property on September 30, 2014, for $5.9 million. The signatory for William Koeppel was David Wallace . The signatory for Golden East Investors was Orah Mansher . The fee is owned by Solil Management, from a lease originated by a predecessor in 1956. The back up bidder in bankruptcy was Son Dinh Tran , who would have paid $14 million.

William Koeppel through the entity Eastgate Whitehouse LLC filed to place the property in bankruptcy in 2022, under number 22-22635-shl. Document approving the sale to Golden East Investors, and naming Son Dinh Tran the backup bidder.

William Koeppel’s 137-unit Turtle Bay rental property with $32 million in senior debt had been embroiled in class-action landlord-tenant litigation since 2011, and was sold through a bankruptcy-led marketing campaign, according to an order confirming the bankruptcy plan signed January 18, 2024. The brokerage Eastdil Secured managed the sale.

Tenants at 350 East 52nd Street filed a complaint in 2011 alleging rent overcharges related to J-51 improvements, and the parties battled in New York State courts until that case was settled in March 2023, after the landlord won a ruling that denied treble-damages, as The Real Deal reported at the time.

The settlement from the state court case, 111723/2011, provided a settlement amount of $2.2 million to tenants.

According to the bankruptcy filings, “In accordance with the Plan… following entry of this Order and Broker Retention Order, the Broker shall market the Sale Assets during the Marketing Period, or if applicable, the Extended Marketing Period… ‘Class Action Settlement Amount’ means $2,200,000, which will be paid to the Class Action Claims Administrator pursuant to… the Plan following the Closing of the Sale or Transfer.” Bankruptcy records do not indicate whether a broker has been retained.

The property has been subject to at least four significant state and federal court cases. In the earliest, 111723/2011, filed October 14, 2011, tenants alleged J-51 rent overcharges.

Prior sales, articles and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Golden East Investors had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller William Koeppel had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period. The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Ian Lagowitz, head officer and Joel Goldman, agent. The business entities are Estate Realty Group Inc and Eastgate Whitehouse Llc.

The property

The residential elevator building with 137 residential units in Turtle Bay has 142,767 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 77 feet and is 150 feet deep with a total lot size of 12,763 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R10 which allows for up to 10 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $31.4 million. The property has 89 rent regulated units according to city tax records from 2024.

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 $1,600 in ECB penalties, 60 housing violations, and $1,650 in OATH penalties 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 eight of the 19 commercial properties representing 322,930 square feet of the 423,637 square feet. The largest owner is William Koeppel, followed by Stellar Management and then Fortress Investment Group.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 78 percent of the 423,637 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 18 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that William Koeppel owned at least one commercial property with 137 residential units in New York City with 142,767 square feet and a city-determined market value of $30.6 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio consists of at least a single elevator property. It is located in Manhattan.

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