John, Daniel Ilibassi pay $5.8M to ABJ Properties for mixed-use in Alphabet City

Daniel Ilibassi and John Ilibassi through the entity Two By Four Realty LLC paid $5.8 million to Benjamin Soleimani of ABJ Properties through the entity 32 Ave A Holdings LLC for the three-unit mixed-use building (S3) at 32 Avenue A in Alphabet City, Manhattan. The expected use is cash flowing.
The deal closed on October 16, 2024 and was recorded on October 29, 2024. The property has 4,708 square feet of built space and 1,972 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 6,688 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $1,221 and the price per buildable square foot is $859 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 March 9, 2023, for $3.8 million. The signatory for ABJ Properties was Benjamin Soleimani. The signatory for Daniel Ilibassi and John Ilibassi was Daniel Ilibassi. The contract date was August 21, 2024. John and Daniel Ilibassi are affiliated with Viking Management Ltd.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Daniel Ilibassi purchased one property in one transaction for a total of $5.6 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller ABJ Properties purchased 12 properties in 11 transactions for a total of $34.3 million and had not sold any properties over the same time period. The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Ben Soleimani, head officer and Joe Soleimani, site manager. The business entity is 32 Ave A Holdings Llc. The 4,708-square-foot property generated revenue of $238,131 or $51 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The mixed-use building with 3 residential units in Alphabet City has 4,708 square feet of built space and 1,972 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 6,688 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 22 feet and is 76 feet deep with a total lot size of 1,672 square feet. The zoning is R7A which allows for up to 4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $3.3 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 housing 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 Alphabet City, The majority, or 56 percent of the 13 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 32 percent of the space. In sales, Alphabet City has 1.2 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $299 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 25th highest in Manhattan. For development, Alphabet City has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 236,382 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 2 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 12 of the 21 commercial properties representing 238,300 square feet of the 362,982 square feet. The largest owner is Benchmark Real Estate Group, followed by Penn South Capital and then Gatsby Enterprises.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 43 percent of the 362,982 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 42 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Abj Properties owned at least 91 commercial properties with 1,026 residential units in New York City with 971,923 square feet and a city-determined market value of $149.1 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 87 percent of the 971,923 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with elevator properties next occupying 9 percent of the space. The bulk, or 45 percent of the built space, is in Bronx, with Manhattan next at 35 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that John Ilibassi owned at least 12 commercial properties with 386 residential units in New York City with 342,961 square feet and a city-determined market value of $54.7 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $32.4 million in debt, borrowed from JPMorgan Chase and Capital One. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 67 percent of the 342,961 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 33 percent of the space. The bulk, or 55 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Queens next at 45 percent of the space.
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Daniel Ilibassi owned at least one commercial property with 20 residential units in New York City with 6,490 square feet and a city-determined market value of $1.4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio consists of at least a single walkup property. It is located in Manhattan.

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