Long-vacant Walter & Samuels building draws Yorkville neighbor’s ire

The senior housing and services nonprofit, the New York Foundation for Senior Citizens is seeking a ruling from a state Supreme Court judge to force a long-vacant Walter & Samuels’ building at the corner of Second Avenue and 96th Street in Yorkville, to take down scaffolding that has been up for years.

The New York Foundation for Senior Citizens owns the 26-story 1850 Second Avenue in Yorkville, and seeks the removal of a scaffold on a long-vacant adjacent property at 300 East 96th Street, owned by Walter & Samuels, so the New York Foundation can do repairs on its own building. The nonprofit filed the complaint in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan on April 26, 2024.

Case LINK

Walter & Samuels bought the six-story, 25-unit 300 East 96th Street for $9.8 million on June 27, 2013.

The New York City Fire Department, citing a large crack, ordered a vacate on the building at 300 East 96th Street on November 10, 2017. The building has remained vacant since 2017.

In 2022, a city administrative judge ruled that Walter & Samuels, through the owner entity, “Harassed lawful occupants of the Building… Building owner failed to fix leaks and cracks in the walls of a building which was eventually evacuated by the Fire Department.”

According to the New York Foundation complaint, “It is a vacant 6 story building, which formerly had retail space on its ground floor and residential apartments on the floors above… On November 10, 2017, the New York Fire Department determined that defendant’s building 300 East 96th Street had a dangerous crack in its facade from the basement to the top floor… On November 10, 2017, the Department of Buildings issued a Full Vacate Order against 300 East 96th Street.”

Walter & Samuels through the entity 96 & Second LLC submitted a demolition application for the demolition of 25-unit residential (J-2) building at 300 East 96th Street in Yorkville, Manhattan. The plan was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings on June 13, 2019 under job number 123751190. It calls for the demolition of a six-story building. The project is described in the filing as: full demolition of six story building as per plans filed herewith.

The property

The walkup building with 25 residential units in Yorkville has 13,500 square feet of built space and 12,162 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 25,660 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 25 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 2,566 square feet. The zoning is R10A which allows for up to 10 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $4.9 million.

Prior sales and revenue

This property was sold for $9.8 million on June 27, 2013.

The 13,500-square-foot property generated revenue of $868,052 or $64 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has received three DOB violations, $625 in ECB penalties, and $1,355 in OATH penalties in the last year.

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

The neighborhood

In Yorkville, The majority, or 61 percent of the 26.6 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 28 percent of the space. In sales, Yorkville has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $443.4 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 19th highest in Manhattan. For development, Yorkville has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 29th highest in Manhattan. It had 880,524 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 3 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of seven of the 17 commercial properties representing 297,519 square feet of the 662,291 square feet. The largest owner is Acuity Capital Partners, followed by Bill Wolf Petroleum Corp. and then Carnegie East House. There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The owner

The owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Steve Forest, head officer and David Berley, officer. The business entities are Walter & Samuels Inc and 96 & Second Llc.

The surrounding

This is the first commercial real estate event of interest identified within the 400-foot radius of 1854 2 Avenue in the past 24 months.

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