Red Apple Group signs contract to buy $22.5M Chelsea building adjacent to dev site it owns

John Catsimatidis’s Red Apple Group signed a contract to pay $22.5 million to the Jeanne D’Arc Residence for the 59,250-square-foot single-room occupancy building at 253 West 24th Street in Chelsea, Manhattan, adjacent to Red Apple Group’s 280 Eighth Avenue project. The seller, formerly known as the Jeanne D’Arc Home for Friendless French Girls, was formed in 1896 and the Sisters of the Roman Catholic Congregation of Divine Providence have been on the site since 1898.

Petition to sell 253 West 24th Street pdf

Red Apple Group originally filed plans in May 2022 to construct a 64-unit building at 280 Eighth Avenue. The project has been expanded to 104 units, but does not include 253 West 24th Street in the foot print. The plans call for the construction of a 120-foot-tall, 10-story building and were filed with the New York City Department of Buildings under job number M00696323.

According to the petition, “Petitioner has been incorporated since March 24, 1896, and operates a dormitory-type facility for women at the Property. Petitioner has a relationship with the Roman Catholic Congregation of Divine Providence located in Melbourne, Kentucky (“CDP”). Sisters of the CDP have been physically on-site at the Property and managers of the Property since 1898. Petitioner intends to dissolve after the sale.”

The property

The property in Chelsea has 59,250 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 100 feet and is 88 feet deep with a total lot size of 9,271 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R8A which allows for up to 6.02 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $8.9 million.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has received $2,050 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 Chelsea, The bulk, or 35 percent of the 52.5 million square feet of commercial built space are office buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 28 percent of the space. In sales, Chelsea has the 9th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $1.1 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Chelsea has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 20th highest in Manhattan. It had 1.6 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 3 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 11 of the 17 commercial properties representing 494,835 square feet of the 530,199 square feet. The largest owner is Abraham Lokshin, followed by Chabad Young Professionals and then NYC Department Of Education. On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 58,021 square feet. It is a 104-unit, 88,548-square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Red Apple Group and filed by Maria Rosenfeld with plans filed May 25, 2022 and permitted December 21, 2023.

The owner

The owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Sr. Barbara Rohe, head officer and Sr. Margaret Stallmeyer, officer. The business entities are Parish Property Management and Jeanne D’Arc Residence, Inc.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 257 West 24 Street, PincusCo identified six commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those six items, two were in new building development. There were two new building permits. The most recent of these two items was a permit on May 28, 2024 for a 58,021-square-foot residential (R-2) building with 64 residential units at 280 Eighth Avenue. Of those six items, two were sales above $5 million totaling $12.2 million. The most recent of the two was Chabad Young Professionals which bought the 3,820-square-foot, two-unit industrial (W9) on 247 West 24th Street and one other property for $5 million from KP Developers on June 28, 2023. Of those six items, two were loans above $5 million totaling $63.5 million. The most recent of the two was Red Apple Group in which borrowed $57 million from JPMorgan Chase secured by the 17,590-square-foot, one-unit retail building (K1) on 280 8th Avenue on August 2, 2024.

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