Joel Braver inks $15M deal for Fordham Heights dev site

Joel Braver of Express Builders signed as manager of the entity Burnside Properties NY LLC, which paid $15 million to the Berger and Katz families through the entity Western Highway Associates LLC for the retail building marketed as a development site at 57 East Burnside Avenue in Fordham Heights, the Bronx. The expected use is ground up development. Marketing material states the buildable is about 150,000 square feet, making the price per foot $100.
The deal closed on February 28, 2025 and was recorded on March 7, 2025. The contract date was November 1, 2024.
The buyer entity is also affiliated by address with developer Solomon Schwimmer, who leads Twin Group Associates. Barbara Berger signed on behalf of the sellers, while Joel Braver signed for the buyers.

The buyers financed the acquisition with an $11 million land loan from Popular Bank.

Traded NY reported on the sale previously but did not disclose the buyers.

Traded reported the brokers were Derek Bestreich, Steve Reynolds, Tom Reynolds, Brian Davila and John Loch of Investment Property Realty Group.

The sellers are the families that owned Food City Markets, a local grocery chain that is no longer in operation. Robert Katz along with partners founded it. Barbara Berger is the daughter of Robert Katz.

The property

The retail building in Fordham Heights has 21,000 square feet of built space and 117,530 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 138,460 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 100 feet and is 227 feet deep with a total lot size of 23,000 square feet. The zoning is R8 which allows for up to 6.02 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $2.9 million.

Prior sales and revenue

The 21,000-square-foot property generated revenue of $510,580 or $24 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has received one DOB violation and $1,170 in OATH penalties in the last year.

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months.

The neighborhood

In Fordham Heights, The bulk, or 46 percent of the 16.3 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 35 percent of the space. In sales, Fordham Heights has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $129.5 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 4th highest in Bronx. For development, Fordham Heights has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 9th highest in Bronx. It had 781,927 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 5 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of four of the eight commercial properties representing 181,542 square feet of the 282,254 square feet. The largest owner is Ayush Kapahi, followed by Chestnut Holdings Of New York and then Jay Newhouse. On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 40,508 square feet. It is a 67-unit, 40,508 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Michael Hunt with plans filed February 25, 2021 and permitted April 16, 2024.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 65 East Burnside Avenue, PincusCo identified four commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those four items, one was in new building development. It was a new building permit issued on April 16, 2024 for a 40,508-square-foot residential (R-2) building with 67 residential units at 2074 Walton Avenue. Of those four items, one was for major renovation including a certificate of occupancy change. It was a permit issued on September 26, 2024 for the $425,950 renovation of 34,876-square-foot assembly (A-3) building with zero residential units at 2070 Jerome Avenue. One of those four items was a sale which Angela Gazivoda bought the 59,400-square-foot, 72-unit rental (C1) on 2078 Morris Avenue for $5.3 million from Lemle & Wolff Companies on January 17, 2024. One of those four items was a loan which Ayush Kapahi borrowed $16.1 million from Popular Bank secured by the 2,032-square-foot development site (V0) on 2074 Walton Avenue on January 8, 2024.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.