Namdar, Empire Capital pay $100.1M to Invesco for 162 units in Hell’s Kitchen, seller paid $170M

Namdar Realty Group and Empire Capital Holdings through the entities Mercedes 11th Realty LLC and Empire MH 26 LLC paid $100.1 million to Invesco Real Estate through the entity MH 770-54th Street LLC for the 162-unit condominium block at the top 10 floors of the Mercedes House at 550 West 54th Street in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan.

To finance the purchase, the Deutsche Bank provided a $77 million acquisition loan.

The Commercial Observer first reported on the sale when it went into contract in December.
The deal closed on April 4, 2023 and was recorded on April 11, 2023. The property has 141,934 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $705 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.)
Invesco bought the property on February 6, 2013, for $170 million.

The signatory for Invesco Real Estate was Jason W. Geer. The signatory for Namdar Realty Group and Empire Capital Holdings was Matthew K. Scheriff, Abraham Khalili, and Khashy Eyn. The Mercedes House was developed by Two Trees Management. Namdar Realty Group purchased 94 percent and Empire Capital acquired 5 percent. A third partner acquired 1 percent.

The brokers were Adam Spies, Marcella Fasulo, Adam Doneger and Michael Collins who were at the time with Cushman & Wakefield, and are now with Newmark. The contract date was December 6, 2022.

Namdar has been active over the past year. In one low-key transaction, it partnered with Klosed to buy an apartment building previously owned by Witkoff, as PincusCo reported when it was financed. Empire Capital has also acquired several high-profile properties, some with Namdar, some with other partners.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Namdar Realty Group purchased 13 properties in 10 transactions for a total of $164.2 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Invesco Real Estate purchased 49 properties in 10 transactions for a total of $332.5 million.

The property

The rental condo with 162 residential units in Hell’s Kitchen has 141,934 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has a total lot size of 141,934 square feet. The property has a 421a exemption that started in 2014 and expires in 2024. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $59 million.

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 not received any significant violations in the last year.

Development

For the tax lot building, it received its initial certificate of occupancy on July 25, 2012. 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

There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Invesco Real Estate owned at least 42 commercial properties with 2,197,185 square feet, 1,682 residential units. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 81 percent of the 2,197,185 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with office properties next occupying 19 percent of the space. The bulk, or 81 percent of the built space, is in Bronx, with Manhattan next at 19 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Namdar Realty Group owned at least 69 commercial properties with 898 residential units in New York City with 1,536,119 square feet and a city-determined market value of None. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $150.6 million in debt, with top three lenders as Benefit Street Partners, Signature Bank, and Ladder Capital respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 25 percent of the 1,536,119 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with office properties next occupying 24 percent of the space. The bulk, or 69 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Bronx next at 18 percent of the space.
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Empire Capital Holdings owned at least four commercial properties in New York City with 683,274 square feet and a city-determined market value of None. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $30.6 million in debt, borrowed from Thorofare Capital and Hakimian Partners. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 95 percent of the 683,274 square feet of built space are office properties, with hotel properties next occupying 4 percent of the space. The bulk, or 96 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 4 percent of the space.

Correction: A prior version of this post misspelled Khashy Eyn’s first name.

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