Huat Beng Khoo pays $7.3M for three industrial properties in Gowanus

Huat Beng Khoo and Kah Wai Khoo through the entity MHK Management Group LLC paid $7.3 million to Christopher Maldari through the entity 557-559 3rd Ave Realty Corp. for the industrial building (F5) at 557-559 Third Avenue in Gowanus, Brooklyn, industrial building (F5) at 561-563 3rd Avenue in Gowanus, Brooklyn, and industrial building (G1) at 565-567 3rd Avenue in Gowanus, Brooklyn.
The deal closed on September 5, 2023 and was recorded on September 12, 2023. The three properties have 9,890 square feet of built space and 19,817 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 29,682 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $743 and the price per buildable square foot is $247 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 Christopher Maldari was Christopher Maldari. The signatory for Huat Beng Khoo and Kah Wai Khoo was Kah Wai Khoo. The contract date was May 9, 2023. Daniel Maldari was added as officer to the seller entity.

Because multiple properties have been transacted, some of the following sections will follow the property with the largest assessed value, which in this case, is the property on 557-559 Third Avenue.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Huat Beng Khoo purchased one property in one transactions for a total of $1.7 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Christopher Maldari had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period.

The property

The industrial building in Gowanus has 9,890 square feet of built space and 19,817 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 29,682 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 60 feet and is 90 feet deep with a total lot size of 5,276 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R6A which allows for up to 3 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $446,000.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the properties for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have 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 neighborhood

In Gowanus, The bulk, or 46 percent of the 9.2 million square feet of commercial built space are industrial buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 19 percent of the space. In sales, Gowanus has 1.8 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $631.1 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 8th highest in Brooklyn. For development, Gowanus is the 6th most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 4.6 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 50 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There were two pre-foreclosure suit filed among other industrial buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On the tax block of 557-559 Third Avenue, PincusCo has identified the owners of seven of the 22 commercial properties representing 73,065 square feet of the 137,402 square feet. The largest owner is Spiro Geroulanos, followed by Salvatore Lombardi and then Miller Management.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 10,439 square feet. It is a 10-unit, 10,439 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Martin Walf with plans filed November 16, 2018 and permitted April 8, 2021.

The majority, or 52 percent of the 137,402 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 23 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Huat Beng Khoo owned at least one commercial property with two residential units in New York City with 3,748 square feet and a city-determined market value of $2.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio consists of at least a single mixed-use property. It is located in Brooklyn.

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