Lantern Organization acquires 118-unit Tremont rental from Richman Group valued at $14.1M

The affordable and supportive housing developer Lantern Organization through the entity Silverleaf Lantern Investor LLC acquired a 99.9 percent interest from affordable developer Richman Group and U.S.A. Institutional Tax Credit Fund XXXIX L.P., through the entity The Richman Group Capital Corporation valued at $14.1M for the 118-unit residential elevator building (D1) at 1852 Washington Avenue in Tremont, Bronx. The Lantern Organization has been involved with the development of the property for at least 20 years.  The building is known as Silverleaf Hall.
The deal closed on December 27, 2023 and was recorded on January 19, 2024. The property has 122,650 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $115 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 October 17, 2003, for $925,000.

On September 19, 2003, Eric Galloway of The Lantern Group Inc. submitted a new building construction project for a 118-unit residential (J-2) building at 480 East 176 Street in Tremont, Bronx. The plan was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings under job number 200808199 and was permitted on June 14, 2004. It calls for the construction of an eight-story building.

In June 2022, Mega Contracting Group and Lantern Organization through the entity Euclid Glenmore Housing Dev. Fund Corp. as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender Lantern Organization and Bank of America valued at $52.7 million for the 135-unit development site at 437 Euclid Avenue in East New York, Brooklyn.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Lantern Organization had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Richman Group had not purchased any other properties and sold two properties in two transactions for a total of $11.8 million over the same time period. The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Daniel Kent, head officer and Rafal Markwat, officer. The business entities are Arete Management Llc and Silverleaf Lp.

The property

The residential elevator building with 118 residential units in Tremont has 122,650 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 110 feet and is 222 feet deep with a total lot size of 24,570 square feet. The zoning is M1-4/R7A which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing and up to 4 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $6.5 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 five DOB violations, 36 housing violations, and $1,150 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 10 commercial properties representing 13,362 square feet of the 167,926 square feet. The identified owner is NYC Department Of Education.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 7,186 square feet. It is a 78-unit, 7,186 square-foot institutional (I-1) building submitted by Eric Koch with plans filed August 27, 2020 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 73 percent of the 167,926 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with industrial buildings next occupying 12 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Lantern Organization owned at least three commercial properties with 210 residential units in New York City with 22,060 square feet and a city-determined market value of $5 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $6.4 million in debt, borrowed from NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 100 percent of the 22,060 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with elevator properties next occupying 0 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.

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