Itafin sells mixed-use in Lenox Hill through bankruptcy for $12.2M

The entity Frees NYC LLC paid $12.2 million to developer Itafin through the entity Adina 74 Realty Corporation for the five-unit mixed-use building (S5) at 6 East 74th Street in Lenox Hill, Manhattan. The buyer was identified in court papers at Sonia Cheng.
The deal closed on September 13, 2023 and was recorded on September 22, 2023. The property has 8,360 square feet of built space and 827 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 9,196 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $1,455 and the price per buildable square foot is $1,323 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 Itafin was Ezra Chammah. The signatory for Sonia Cheng was Walter Edelstein. The contract date was August 9, 2023. This transaction is the result of a foreclosure filing, and then a bankruptcy filing by the Itafin single-purpose ownership entity in November 2022.

SKW Funding filed to foreclose in February 2021.

Pre-foreclosure link: 850019/2021

Bankruptcy link: 22-11458-jpm

SKW was paid 5,966,345.50 of the $12.16 million purchase price, according to court records.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Sonia Cheng had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Itafin had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period. The former owner according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development is Ezra Chammah, head officer. The business entity is Adina 74 Realty Ny Corp.

The property

The mixed-use building with 5 residential units in Lenox Hill has 8,360 square feet of built space and 827 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 9,196 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 22 feet and is 102 feet deep with a total lot size of 2,299 square feet. The zoning is R8B which allows for up to 4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The property is in the Upper East Side Historic District. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $6.7 million.

Violations and lawsuits

The property was involved in one lawsuit and one bankruptcy over the past three years. The bankruptcy was filed on November 2, 2022, by Ezra Chammah, Emmanuelle Chammah, Michele Chammah, and Vanessa Chammah citing assets of $5.2 million. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received two 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 neighborhood

In Lenox Hill, The bulk, or 35 percent of the 52 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 28 percent of the space. In sales, Lenox Hill has the highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $4.7 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Lenox Hill has 3.4 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 7th highest in Manhattan. It had 3.4 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 6 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of five of the 16 commercial properties representing 37,250 square feet of the 182,712 square feet. The largest owner is Solil Management, followed by Khedouri K. Ezair Corp. and then Joseph Franco.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 47 percent of the 182,712 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 19 percent of the space.

Direct link to Acris document. link