Lemle & Wolff pays $10.4M for four properties in Morrisania

Lemle & Wolff Companies and Settlement Housing Fund through the entity Br Affordable Housing Development Fund Corporation paid $10.4 million to Great American Construction through the entity BR Affordable Housing L.P. for the 84-unit residential elevator building (D1) at 1065 Boston Road in Morrisania, Bronx, 34-unit residential walkup building (C1) at 1077 Boston Road in Morrisania, Bronx, and 24-unit residential walkup building (C1) at 1038 Boston Road in Morrisania, Bronx.
The deal closed on May 11, 2023 and was recorded on May 25, 2023. The four properties have 150,866 square feet of built space and 4,750 square feet of additional air rights according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $68 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 Great American Construction was Thomas J. Metallo. The signatory for Lemle & Wolff Companies and Settlement Housing Fund was Joseph J. Zitolo and Jacqueline Tom.

Because multiple properties have been transacted, some of the following sections will follow the property with the largest assessed value, which in this case, is the property on 1065 Boston Road.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Lemle & Wolff Companies had purchased any other properties and sold 10 properties in one transactions for a total of $12.1 million over the past 24 months.
The seller Great American Construction had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period. The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Joesph Zitolo, head officer and Joseph Ziltolo, head officer. The business entities are Lemle & Wolff Inc and Br Affordable Housing Lp.

The property

The residential elevator building with 84 residential units in Morrisania has 150,866 square feet of built space and 4,750 square feet of additional air rights according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 222 feet and is 140 feet deep with a total lot size of 27,024 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R6 which allows for up to 2.43 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The property has a J-51 exemption that started in 1995 and expires in 2029. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $2.9 million.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the properties for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have received $38,750 in ECB penalties, 58 housing violations, and $41,150 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 the tax block of 1065 Boston Road, PincusCo has identified the owners of eight of the 25 commercial properties representing 307,774 square feet of the 427,086 square feet. The largest owner is Workforce Housing Group, followed by Simcha Applegrad and then Phipps Houses.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 58 percent of the 427,086 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 28 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Settlement Housing Fund owned at least 32 commercial properties with 2,320 residential units in New York City with 2,512,399 square feet and a city-determined market value of $141.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $359.1 million in debt, with top three lenders as NYC Housing Development Corporation, Community Preservation Corporation, and UMB Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 60 percent of the 2,512,399 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with D4 properties next occupying 19 percent of the space. The bulk, or 51 percent of the built space, is in Bronx, with Queens next at 28 percent of the space.
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Lemle & Wolff Companies owned at least eight commercial properties with 192 residential units in New York City with 192,057 square feet and a city-determined market value of $13.1 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $54.7 million in debt, borrowed from Bank of New York Mellon and NYC Housing Development Corporation. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 55 percent of the 192,057 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with elevator properties next occupying 45 percent of the space. The bulk, or 91 percent of the built space, is in Bronx, with Manhattan next at 9 percent of the space.

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