Hiwin Group USA pays $21.7M to Hidrock for FiDi dev site, purchased for $38.5M in 2018

Hiwin Group USA through the entity HW Liberty LLC paid $21.7 million to Hidrock Properties through the entity 112 Liberty Associates LLC for the development site (V1) at 112 Liberty Street in Financial District, Manhattan.

On this site there Hidrock submitted plans for a 230-unit, 92,864 square-foot hotel (R-1) building, submitted by Eddie Hidary with plans filed March 6, 2019 and permitted February 25, 2020.

The sale closed on March 28, 2024 and was recorded on April 8, 2024.
The signatory for Hidrock Properties was Abraham J. Hidary. The signatory for Hiwin Group USA was Xiaogang Wang. The contract date was March 6, 2024. The Commercial Observer reported on the sale yesterday.  Hidrock paid $38.5 million in February 2018. In June 2023, Emerald Creek Capital filed a suit alleging a $23.5 million loan was in a maturity default.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Hiwin Group USA purchased one property in one transactionsfor a total of $15 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Hidrock Properties had not purchased any other properties and sold 19 properties in 12 transactions for a total of $79.1 million over the same time period.

The property

The parcel has frontage of 48 feet and is 113 feet deep with a total lot size of 6,100 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is C5-5 which allows for up to 15 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 10 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $2.9 million. The most recent loan totaled $23.5 million and was provided by Emerald Creek Capital on November 30, 2021.

Violations and lawsuits

The property was involved in one lawsuit and zero bankruptcies over the past two years. The suit was a $23.5 million money judgment concerning a loan filed on June 28, 2023, by Emerald Creek Capital against Hidrock Properties. In addition, according to city public data, the property has not received any significant violations in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Financial District, The majority, or 74 percent of the 79.9 million square feet of commercial built space are office buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 15 percent of the space. In sales, Financial District has the 5th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $1.9 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Financial District is the 3rd most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 12.8 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 16 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of one of the eight commercial properties representing zero square feet of the 331,797 square feet. The identified owner is Hidrock Properties.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 223,031 square feet. The largest is a 317-unit, 130,167 square-foot hotel/dormitory/shelter (R-1) building submitted by Christopher Devine with plans filed June 29, 2012 and permitted June 20, 2014. The second largest is a 230-unit, 92,864 square-foot hotel/dormitory/shelter (R-1) building submitted by Hidrock Properties and filed by Eddie Hidary with plans filed March 6, 2019 and permitted February 25, 2020.

The majority, or 39 percent of the 331,797 square feet of built space are hotel buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 33 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Hidrock Properties owned at least four commercial properties with 42 residential units in New York City with 53,490 square feet and a city-determined market value of $12.1 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $74.2 million in debt, with top three lenders as Citizens Bank, Emerald Creek Capital, and Popular Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 80 percent of the 53,490 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with mixed-use properties next occupying 20 percent of the space. They are all located in Brooklyn.

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