Lalezarian Properties files to demo 5-story Murray Hill building, ahead of 200-unit project

Kevin Lalezarian, principal of Lalezarian Properties submitted a demolition application for the demolition of a commercial (COM) building at 567 Third Avenue in Murray Hill, Manhattan. The plan was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings on November 16, 2022 under job number 123905907. It calls for the demolition of a five-story building. The project is described in the filing as: full demolition of 5 story structure, using hand held, and mechanical means to assist on 1st floors.

The property

The retail building in Murray Hill has 9,300 square feet of built space and 16,601 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 25,900 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The property is owned by Lalezarian Properties. The parcel has frontage of 24 feet and is 105 feet deep with a total lot size of 2,590 square feet. The zoning is C1-9 which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 10 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.9 million.

Prior sales and revenue

This property was sold by Evans Cyprus for $6.8 million to Lalezarian Properties on April 8, 2022.

The 9,300-square-foot property generated revenue of $383,784 or $41 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

Development

Kevin Lalezarian submitted a new building construction project for a 200-unit, 154,219 square-foot residential (R-2) building at 567 Third Avenue. The plan was filed on June 15, 2022. It calls for the construction of a 352-foot tall, 34-story building and was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings under job number M00749928. The architect is SLCE Architects. The project is described in the filing as: 34-story mixed-use new building.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has not received any significant violations in the last year.

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

The neighborhood

In Murray Hill, the majority, or 57 percent of the 11.6 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with office buildings next occupying 21 percent of the space. In sales, Murray Hill has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $1.1 billion in sales volume in the last two years and is the 14th highest in Manhattan. For development, Murray Hill has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 34th highest in Manhattan. It had 284,267 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 seven of the 38 commercial properties representing 165,356 square feet of the 597,748 square feet. The largest owner is Ion Mustatea, followed by Shahzad Mossanen and then Lalezarian Properties. On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 154,219 square feet. It is a 200-unit, 154,219 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Lalezarian Properties and filed by Kevin Lalezarian with plans filed June 15, 2022 and it has not been permitted yet.

The owner

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Lalezarian Properties owned at least 12 commercial properties with 825 residential units in New York City with 823,554 square feet and a city-determined market value of $251.5 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $579.9 million in debt, with top three lenders as JPMorgan Chase, New York Community Bank, and Bank of New York Mellon respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 92 percent of the 823,554 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 7 percent of the space. The bulk, or 60 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 40 percent of the space.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 567 3 Avenue, PincusCo identified five commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those five items, two were sales above $5 million totaling $32.5 million. The most recent of the two was Lalezarian Properties which bought the 6,506-square-foot, nine-unit rental (C7) on 569 3rd Avenue for $7.8 million from BLDG Management on June 21, 2022. Of those five items, three were loans above $5 million totaling $108.7 million. The most recent of the three was Murray Hill Mews Owners Cooperative in which borrowed $16.5 million from Berkadia Commercial Mortgage secured by the 329,706-square-foot, 272-unit co-op (D4) on 560 3rd Avenue on May 27, 2022.

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