Ponte Equities pays $7.3M for 18-unit walkup in Sutton Place

Ponte Equities through the entity 270 West Street, LLC paid $7.3 million to Sierra Real Estate through the entity 971 Ice Glen LLC for the 18-unit residential walkup building (C7) at 971 First Avenue in Sutton Place, Manhattan. The expected use is cash flowing.
The deal closed on January 7, 2026 and was recorded on January 13, 2026. The property has 14,875 square feet of built space and 23,142 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 38,000 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $492 and the price per buildable square foot is $192 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 Sierra Real Estate was Charles A. Samuelson and Peter Braus . The signatory for Ponte Equities was Vincent J. Ponte . The contract date was November 6, 2025.

Prior sales, articles and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Ponte Equities had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Sierra Real Estate had not purchased any other properties and sold two properties in two transactions for a total of $15 million over the same time period. The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Peter Braus, head officer and Nancy Paz, agent. The business entities are Tri-Hill Management Llc and 971 Jobarac Llc & Ice Glen Llc. The 14,875-square-foot property generated revenue of $797,364 or $54 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The residential walkup building with 18 residential units in Sutton Place has 14,875 square feet of built space and 23,142 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 38,000 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 50 feet and is 78 feet deep with a total lot size of 3,800 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R10 which allows for up to 10 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $4 million. The property has 3 rent regulated units according to city tax records from 2024.

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 received two housing violations 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 six of the 13 commercial properties representing 115,290 square feet of the 201,229 square feet. The largest owner is Charles Alpert (271), followed by Jtre Holdings and then Republic Of Tanzania.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 42 percent of the 201,229 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 24 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Sierra Real Estate owned at least one commercial property with 16 residential units in New York City with 8,300 square feet and a city-determined market value of $3.6 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio consists of at least a single walkup property. It is located in Manhattan.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Ponte Equities owned at least four commercial properties with five residential units in New York City with 134,151 square feet and a city-determined market value of $78.4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $33.6 million in debt, with top three lenders as Cross River Bank, LMF Commercial, and BankUnited respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 63 percent of the 134,151 square feet of built space are hotel properties, with office properties next occupying 27 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.

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