Menachem Markovics of Royal Builders signs $10M contract for Sunset Park church building

Menachem Markovics of Royal Builders signed a $10 million contract to purchase 740 40th Street, in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, from the Christian Heritage Church congregation which has owned it since 1997. The parties signed the contract December 3, 2024.
The contract was disclosed in a court filing which is part of a state-required process for the sale by a religious organization or nonprofit is significant assets.
Case LINK (The contract begins on page 79 of this 224-page document.) The broker was identified in the contract as SG Realty.

The property

The property in Sunset Park has 6,750 square feet of built space and 43,322 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 50,084 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 125 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 12,521 square feet. The zoning is R7A which allows for up to 4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $585,000.

Development

Over the past five years, there has been no NYC Department of Buildings new building, demolition, or alteration permit application valued at more than $20,000 filed for this parcel.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has received $375 in OATH penalties in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Sunset Park, The bulk, or 30 percent of the 35 million square feet of commercial built space are industrial buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 26 percent of the space. In sales, Sunset Park has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $439.5 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 14th highest in Brooklyn. For development, Sunset Park has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 37th highest in Brooklyn. It had 193,744 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 0.55 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of five of the 21 commercial properties representing 17,170 square feet of the 94,556 square feet. The largest owner is Cindy Chow, followed by Domiciano Vergara-Ponce and then Jason Li. There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 740 40 Street, PincusCo identified one commercial real estate item of interests occurred over the past 24 months. It was a loan which Hua Chang Zhu borrowed $8 million from Bank of Hope secured by the zero-square-foot development site (V1) on 712 39th Street and one other property on February 24, 2025.

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