Kushner Cos. pays $6M for second stake in school building in Lincoln Square

Kushner Companies through the entity Sixty One Associates, L.L.C. acquired an interest from Walter & Samuels through the entity 2012 Dib Family Trust valued at $6 million in a school building (W1) leased to the City of New York at 227 West 61st Street in Lincoln Square, Manhattan. This is the purchase of a 17.85 percent stake.

The deal closed on February 21, 2025 and was recorded on February 25, 2025. The property has 75,325 square feet of built space and 60,367 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 135,600 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $79 and the price per buildable square foot is $44 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 August 30, 2005, for $31.2 million. This is the second stake Kushner Companies has purchased in the property. The first was $4.4 million to buy a 21.25 percent in November 2024 from Millman LLC, an entity owned by Jane Greenman and Larry Miller. (Greenman and Miller were embroiled in litigation, 650304/2017).

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Kushner Companies purchased one property in one transaction for a total of $33.8 million and sold 25 properties in 16 transactions for a total of $230 million over the past 24 months.
The seller Walter & Samuels had not purchased any other properties and sold nine properties in nine transactions for a total of $150.5 million over the same time period.

The property

The specialty building in Lincoln Square has 75,325 square feet of built space and 60,367 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 135,600 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 225 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 22,525 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 $27.9 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 $655 in ECB penalties and $11,255 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 Lincoln Square, The majority, or 61 percent of the 19.1 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 24 percent of the space. In sales, Lincoln Square has had very little sales volume relative to other neighborhoods with $209.6 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Lincoln Square has 2.9 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 8th highest in Manhattan. It had 3.3 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 17 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of two of the eight commercial properties representing 900,805 square feet of the 1,090,969 square feet. The two identified owners are New York City Housing Authority and Walter & Samuels.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 93 percent of the 1.1 million square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 7 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Walter & Samuels owned at least eight commercial properties in New York City with 527,605 square feet and a city-determined market value of $121.6 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $112.1 million in debt, borrowed from Bank of America and Citibank. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 83 percent of the 527,605 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 Kushner Companies owned at least 32 commercial properties with 594 residential units in New York City with 425,962 square feet and a city-determined market value of $147.4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $446.2 million in debt, with top three lenders as AIG, MSC 2019-L3, and Argentic Investment Management respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 68 percent of the 425,962 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with office properties next occupying 22 percent of the space. The bulk, or 67 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 33 percent of the space.

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