Mike Chiwah Kong pays $2.4M to Barberry Rose for 27-unit walkup in East Flatbush

UPDATED 7:08 a.m., March 14, 2024: Investor Mike Chiwah Kong paid $4.6 million to Barberry Rose Management Company for the 27-unit residential walkup building at 290 East 53rd Street in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, according to sources familiar with the transactions. The sale has not yet been recorded in public records as of the date of publication. The property sold for about half the 2018 purchase price.
The deal closed on February 27, 2024. The property has 25,836 square feet of built space.
According to the brokers, the property sold at a cap rate of 8.23 percent, a GRM of 5.91, and a price per unit of $88,889. The 25,836-square-foot building sold at $93 per square foot.
Aaron Jungreis, Ben Khakshoor and Eli Shayestehpour of Rosewood Realty Group represented both the seller and the buyer.
Barberry Rose through the entity STF 290 East 53rd Street Holding LLC bought the property on June 21, 2018, for $4.825 million.

The signatory for the buyer was Mike Chiwah Kong.

The property

The walkup building with 27 residential units in East Flatbush has 25,836 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 75 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 7,600 square feet. The zoning is R5 which allows for up to 1.25 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.6 million.

Prior sales and revenue

This property was sold for $4.8 million on June 21, 2018.

The 25,836-square-foot property generated revenue of $314,490 or $12 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has received 49 housing violations and $150 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 East Flatbush, The bulk, or 32 percent of the 42.6 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 24 percent of the space. In sales, East Flatbush has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $346.9 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 23rd highest in Brooklyn. For development, East Flatbush has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 7th highest in Brooklyn. It had 1.7 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 4 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There was one pre-foreclosure suit filed among other development buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of two of the 12 commercial properties representing 29,836 square feet of the 61,916 square feet. The two identified owners are Barberry Rose Management Company and Rustam Abilov. There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The owner

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Barberry Rose Management Company owned at least 10 commercial properties with 375 residential units in New York City with 387,029 square feet and a city-determined market value of $44.4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $10 million in debt, borrowed from Principal Life Insurance Company. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 65 percent of the 387,029 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 23 percent of the space. The bulk, or 40 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Queens next at 36 percent of the space.

The owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Lewis Barbanel, head officer and Robert Silverman, officer. The business entities are Barberry Rose Management Co. Inc. and Stf290 East 53rd Street Holding Llc.

Correction: The buyer was misidentified in a previous version of this post as Mike Kim, but in fact the name on the transfer is Mike Chiwah Kong.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page.