John Liu pays $3.1M for 16-unit walkup in Bensonhurst

John Liu through the entity Catherine Capital LLC paid $3.1 million to Amy Chin Fong Lee and Tanya Lee through the entity Liao Jie LLC for the 16-unit residential walkup building (C7) at 1980 65th Street in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. The expected use is cash flowing.
The deal closed on February 25, 2026 and was recorded on March 11, 2026. The property has 18,001 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $172 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 April 27, 2011, for $2.3 million. The signatories for Amy Chin Fong Lee and Tanya Lee were Amy Chin Fong Lee and Tanya Lee. The signatory for John Liu was John Liu. The contract date was November 25, 2025.

Prior sales, articles and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer John Liu had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Amy Chin Fong Lee 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 Amy Lee, head officer. The business entity is Liao Jie Llc. The 18,001-square-foot property generated revenue of $367,773 or $20 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The residential walkup building with 16 residential units in Bensonhurst has 18,001 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 50 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 5,000 square feet. The zoning is R5 which allows for up to 1.25 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $2 million. The property has 15 rent regulated units according to city tax records from 2024.

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 five housing violations and $150 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 one of the three commercial properties representing 1,600 square feet of the 29,601 square feet. The identified owner is Ken Ming Mok.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 95 percent of the 29,601 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 5 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that John Liu owned at least three commercial properties with 24 residential units in New York City with 24,995 square feet and a city-determined market value of $4.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 66 percent of the 24,995 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with mixed-use properties next occupying 34 percent of the space. They are all located in Queens.

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