Lions Group pays $16M for 22-unit walkup in West Village

Lions Group through the entity 107 Christopher LLC paid $16 million to Elliot Sohayegh through the entity NYC Chris Holdings LLC for the 22-unit residential walkup building (C7) at 107-109 Christopher Street in West Village, Manhattan.
The deal closed on October 13, 2023 and was recorded on October 18, 2023. The property has 17,226 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $928 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 November 10, 2011, for $12.8 million. The signatory for Elliot Sohayegh was Elliot Sohayegh. The signatory for Lions Group was Timothy Sheahan. The contract date was September 1, 2023. The buyer entity is in care of Lions Group.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Lions Group had purchased one other property for $10.9 million and sold two properties for $75 million over the past 24 months.
The seller Elliot Sohayegh purchased two properties in two transactions for a total of $6.5 million and had not sold any properties over the same time period. The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Silvia Bravo, head officer and Nelon Bartholomew, site manager. The business entity is NYC Chris Holdings Llc.

The property

The residential walkup building with 22 residential units in West Village has 17,226 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 44 feet and is 91 feet deep with a total lot size of 3,999 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 is in the Greenwich Village Historic District. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $7.9 million. The most recent loan totaled $6.2 million and was provided by New York Community Bank on May 26, 2021.

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 24 housing violations and $1,300 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 24 of the 37 commercial properties representing 413,994 square feet of the 526,094 square feet. The largest owner is William Gottlieb Real Estate, followed by Slate Property Group and then Sabet Group.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 52 percent of the 526,094 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 38 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Elliot Sohayegh owned at least 12 commercial properties with 242 residential units in New York City with 183,283 square feet and a city-determined market value of $54.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $23.2 million in debt, borrowed from New York Community Bank and Hanover Community Bank. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 61 percent of the 183,283 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 35 percent of the space. The bulk, or 91 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 9 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Lions Group owned at least 10 commercial properties with 273 residential units in New York City with 336,183 square feet and a city-determined market value of $82.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $195.8 million in debt, with top three lenders as Greystone & Co., Bank Leumi, and Popular Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 94 percent of the 336,183 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with mixed-use properties next occupying 6 percent of the space. The bulk, or 88 percent of the built space, is in Queens, with Manhattan next at 10 percent of the space.

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