Howard Rich pays $5.8M for 7-unit walkup in East Harlem

Howard Rich through the entity 1557 Lex TIC LLC paid $5.8 million to James R. Maher Jr. through the entity 1557 Lexington Ave LLC for the seven-unit residential walkup building (C7) at 1557 Lexington Avenue in East Harlem, Manhattan.
The deal closed on May 15, 2024 and was recorded on May 29, 2024. The property has 8,840 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $661 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 seller bought the property on December 8, 2015, for $4.2 million. The signatory for James R. Maher Jr. was James R. Maher Jr. The signatory for Howard Rich was Howard Rich. The contract date was April 3, 2024.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Howard Rich had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller James R. Maher Jr. 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 Ruth Ann Blankenheim, head officer and Jerry Edelman, agent. The business entities are J&M Realty Services Corp and 1557 Lexington Ave Llc.

The property

The residential walkup building with 7 residential units in East Harlem has 8,840 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 25 feet and is 95 feet deep with a total lot size of 2,374 square feet. The zoning is R7-2 which allows for up to 3.44 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.6 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 received three DOB violations and $50 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 15 of the 32 commercial properties representing 135,205 square feet of the 403,389 square feet. The largest owner is P&G Equities, followed by Janet Giaimo Vitale and then Igal Azulay.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 43 percent of the 403,389 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 41 percent of the space.

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