Namdar Realty buys $3M in notes secured by two Sassouni East Village rentals

Namdar Realty Group bought two notes with original principals of $1.5 million each secured by in notes secured by two East Village rental buildings, 324 East 14th Street and 75 Second Avenue, in two separate transactions. Namdar already owns additional debt on both the buildings.

In the first, Namdar Realty Group through the entity East 14th Street Holdings LLC bought a note with an original principal of $1.5 million from Hakimian Partners secured by Sassan Sassouni and Nejatollah Sassouni’s 15-unit residential walkup building (C1) at 324 East 14th Street in East Village, Manhattan.
The deal closed on September 20, 2024 and was recorded on September 26, 2024. The property has 6,300 square feet of built space and 2,996 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 9,292 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data.

In the second, Namdar Realty Group through the entity Second Ave NYC Holdings LLC bought a note with an original principal of $1.5 million from Hakimian Partners secured by Sassan Sassouni and Nejatollah Sassouni’s four-unit mixed-use building (S4) at 75 Second Avenue in East Village, Manhattan. The deal closed on September 20, 2024 and was recorded on September 26, 2024. The property has 5,542 square feet of built space and 2,460 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 8,000 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data.

In these two transactions, Namdar Realty Group is consolidating its ownership of the debt on a four-building portfolio, though this applies to only two of the four buildings. Dime Community Bank provided a $1.5 million loan April 16, 2014, secured by 324 East 14th Street and another $1.5 million loan originated the same day for 75 2nd Avenue. Subsequently City Urban Realty gave a $11.5 million loan June 18, 2019 secured by 324 East 14th Street, 75 Second Avenue, 219 Avenue A and 158 First Avenue. City Urban assigned that loan January 28, 2022 to Namdar Realty Group. 219 Avenue A and 158 First Avenue did not obtain Dime loans.

Prior sales and revenue

The owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Sassan Sassouni, head officer and Susan Sannsouni, lessee. The business entities are 324 East 14th Street Llc and 324 East 14th Street Llc. The 6,300-square-foot property generated revenue of $298,857 or $47 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The residential walkup building with 15 residential units in East Village has 6,300 square feet of built space and 2,996 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 9,292 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 22 feet and is 103 feet deep with a total lot size of 2,323 square feet. The zoning is C1-6A which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 4 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.6 million. The most recent loan totaled 0.0 and was provided by Hakimian Capital on September 18, 2023. The property has 7 rent regulated units according to city tax records from 2023.

Violations and lawsuits

The property was involved in one lawsuit and zero bankruptcies over the past two years. The suit was a $1.5 million commercial foreclosure concerning a loan filed on November 6, 2023, by Daniel Nadri and NPL Fund against Nejatollah Sassouni and Susan Sassouni. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received two housing violations and $650 in OATH penalties 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 block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 11 of the 25 commercial properties representing 107,252 square feet of the 306,505 square feet. The largest owner is L3c Capital Partners, followed by Golden Realty and then Michael Taub.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 112,030 square feet. It is a 112,030 square-foot institutional (I-2) building submitted by Kenneth Holden with plans filed April 24, 2019 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 54 percent of the 306,505 square feet of built space are specialty buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 32 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Nejatollah Sassouni owned at least three commercial properties with 29 residential units in New York City with 20,146 square feet and a city-determined market value of $8.1 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 72 percent of the 20,146 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with mixed-use properties next occupying 28 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Sassan Sassouni owned at least two commercial properties with 21 residential units in New York City with 14,623 square feet and a city-determined market value of $4.5 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, all identified are walkup properties. They are all located in Manhattan.

Direct link to Acris document. link