Kohans acquire 25-unit walkup in Yorkville from Walter & Samuels through $4.4M deed-in-lieu

Maurice Kohan and Gilda Kohan through the entity Group 300 LLC acquired through a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure from Walter & Samuels’s entity 96 & Second LLC the 25-unit residential walkup building (C7) at 300 East 96th Street in Yorkville, Manhattan. The expected use is cash flowing. The transfer value was $4.4 million.
The deal closed on September 20, 2024 and was recorded on September 24, 2024. The property has 13,500 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $323 per the PincusCo analysis.
The seller bought the property on June 27, 2013, for $9.8 million. The signatory for Walter & Samuels was David I. Berley. The signatory for Maurice Kohan and Gilda Kohan was Gilda Kohan. The new owners acquired the building through a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, after buying the debt with an original principal of $7 million but a current principal of $4.37 million, on July 3, 2024.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Maurice Kohan purchased five properties in three transactions for a total of $13.8 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Walter & Samuels had not purchased any other properties and sold five properties in five transactions for a total of $114.7 million over the same time period. The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Steve Forest, head officer and David Berley, officer. The business entities are Walter & Samuels Inc and 96 & Second Llc.

The property

The residential walkup building with 25 residential units in Yorkville has 13,500 square feet of built space and 12,167 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 25,670 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 25 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 2,567 square feet. The zoning is R10A which allows for up to 10 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $4.9 million. The most recent loan totaled 0.0 and was provided by Maurice Kohan on July 3, 2024.

Violations and lawsuits

The property was involved in one lawsuit and zero bankruptcies over the past two years. The suit was a $1 million judgment concerning a construction filed on April 26, 2024, by New York Foundation for Senior Citizens against Walter & Samuels. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received four DOB violations, $1,630 in ECB penalties, and $2,080 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 eight of the 17 commercial properties representing 311,019 square feet of the 662,291 square feet. The largest owner is Carnegie East House, followed by City Of New York and then Eugene Mendlowits.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 47 percent of the 662,291 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 28 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Walter & Samuels owned at least 10 commercial properties with 30 residential units in New York City with 548,697 square feet and a city-determined market value of $131.6 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $112.1 million in debt, with top three lenders as Bank of America, Citibank, and Maurice Kohan respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 80 percent of the 548,697 square feet of built space are office properties, with specialty properties next occupying 14 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Maurice Kohan owned at least 17 commercial properties with 172 residential units in New York City with 129,725 square feet and a city-determined market value of $20.8 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 99 percent of the 129,725 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with industrial properties next occupying 1 percent of the space. The bulk, or 75 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Queens next at 13 percent of the space.

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