Legion, Gindi Capital pay $32.5M for 6-unit rental in Gramercy, adding to dev site

UPDATED 6:05 p.m., February 12, 2025: Legion Investment Group and Gindi Capital paid $32.5 million in two transactions for full ownership of the six-unit residential elevator building (D3) at 37 Gramercy Park East in Gramercy, Manhattan.

In the first transaction Legion and Gindi through the entity Gramercy 252 Owner LLC acquired an entity level interest from Zohar Ben-Dov and Chana Ben-Dov through the entity Parvenue 2024 Trust valued at $10 million. The deal closed on January 31, 2025 and was recorded on February 11, 2025.

In the second transaction, Legion and Gindi through the entity Gramercy 252 Owner LLC acquired a fee interest from Zohar Ben-Dov and Chana Ben-Dov through the entity 37 Gramercy L.L.C. valued at $22.5 million.

Legion Investment Group is developing a 20-story condominium building on six tax parcels it has acquired, The Real Deal reported, including 37 Gramercy Park East and 38 Gramercy Park North. 38 Gramercy has not yet been recorded. The other four parcels were recorded previously.
The property has 8,694 square feet of built space and 3,301 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 11,994 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $3,738 and the price per buildable square foot is $2,709 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 signatory for Zohar Ben-Dov and Chana Ben-Dov was Christy Martin . The signatory for Legion Investment Group and Gindi Capital was Victor Sigoura . Rivka Ben-Dov was the owner as of 1997, and she died in 2005. Zohar and Chana are her children. The Real Deal first reported that Legion had purchased 37 Gramercy Park East, but did not identify the seller or the price.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Legion Investment Group purchased seven properties in seven transactions for a total of $235.2 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Zohar Ben-Dov had not purchased any other properties and sold one property in one transaction for a total of $5.8 million over the same time period. The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Chana Ben-Dov, head officer and Ivy Steele, site manager. The business entities are Buchbinder & Warren Llc and 37 Gramercy Llc.

The property

The residential elevator building with 6 residential units in Gramercy has 8,694 square feet of built space and 3,301 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 11,994 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 19 feet and is 81 feet deep with a total lot size of 1,595 square feet. The zoning is R9A which allows for up to 7.52 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $6.1 million. The property has 3 rent regulated units according to city tax records from 2020.

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 $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 eight of the 11 commercial properties representing 337,522 square feet of the 362,230 square feet. The largest owner is Feil Organization, followed by Legion Investment Group and then Chana Ben-Dov.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 99,016 square feet. The largest is a 48-unit, 73,156 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Legion Investment Group and filed by Victor Sigoura with plans filed October 31, 2023 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a 13-unit, 25,860 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Legion Investment Group and filed by Victor Sigoura with plans filed October 31, 2023 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 86 percent of the 362,230 square feet of built space are office buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 6 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Zohar Ben-Dov owned at least four commercial properties with 62 residential units in New York City with 38,647 square feet and a city-determined market value of $14.4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 67 percent of the 38,647 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with mixed-use properties next occupying 19 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Chana Ben-Dov owned at least two commercial properties with 29 residential units in New York City with 22,458 square feet and a city-determined market value of $10.5 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, all identified are elevator properties. They are all located in Manhattan.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Legion Investment Group owned at least 14 commercial properties with 76 residential units in New York City with 386,769 square feet and a city-determined market value of $80.4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $486.2 million in debt, with top three lenders as Deutsche Bank, Maxim Capital Group, and JPMorgan Chase respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 55 percent of the 386,769 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with office properties next occupying 28 percent of the space. The bulk, or 97 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 3 percent of the space.
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Gindi Capital owned at least six commercial properties in New York City with 59,054 square feet and a city-determined market value of $16.5 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $29 million in debt, borrowed from Goldman Sachs. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 100 percent of the 59,054 square feet of built space are mixed-use properties, with development properties next occupying 0 percent of the space. They are all located in Queens.

Correction: An earlier version of this post had the wrong total since it only reported the $10 million transaction, because the $22.5 million transaction was posted a day later.

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