Mayer Leifer pays $3.5M to church for four properties in Harlem

Mayer Leifer through the entity 70-78 West 126 Street LLC paid $3.5 million to Evangelical Lutheran Church In America through the entity Mnys West 126th LLC for the specialty building (M1) at 74 West 126th Street in Harlem, Manhattan, specialty building (M1) at 70 West 126th Street in Harlem, Manhattan, and specialty building (M3) at 72 West 126th Street in Harlem, Manhattan.
The deal closed on April 30, 2025 and was recorded on May 20, 2025. The four properties have 11,496 square feet of built space and 10,991 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 22,482 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $304 and the price per buildable square foot is $155 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 Evangelical Lutheran Church In America was Robert Schoepflin. The signatory for Mayer Leifer was Mayer Leifer. The contract date was April 1, 2024.

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 78 West 126th Street.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Mayer Leifer had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Evangelical Lutheran Church In America had not purchased any other properties and sold three properties in two transactions for a total of $8.8 million over the same time period.

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 one DOB violation, $450 in OATH penalties, and one housing litigation 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 neighborhood

In Harlem, The bulk, or 43 percent of the 81.1 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 30 percent of the space. In sales, Harlem has 2.9 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $785.6 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 12th highest in Manhattan. For development, Harlem has 3.2 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 10th highest in Manhattan. It had 3.8 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 5 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On the tax block of 78 West 126th Street, PincusCo has identified the owners of eight of the 31 commercial properties representing 248,869 square feet of the 643,603 square feet. The largest owner is ACHS Management, followed by Rockfeld Group and then Chestnut Holdings.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 119,064 square feet. It is a 162-unit, 119,064 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Mark Irgang with plans filed March 21, 2022 and permitted June 7, 2022.

The majority, or 46 percent of the 643,603 square feet of built space are office buildings, with retail buildings next occupying 32 percent of the space.

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