Regal Ventures pays $35M to Prudential Financial for retail, garage in Hell’s Kitchen

Regal Ventures, formerly known as Regal Acquisitions, through the entity Regal 897 8th Ave LLC paid $35 million to Prudential Financial’s PGIM through the entity GA Metro LLC for a retail condo and a garage condo at 301 West 53rd Street in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan.
The deal closed on September 23, 2022 and was recorded on September 30, 2022. The retail property has 16,617 square feet of built space according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $1,624 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 garage condo has 21,272 square feet of built space according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $387 per the PincusCo analysis.
The signatory for Prudential Financial was Alison Hallberg. The signatory for Regal Acquisitions and Regal Ventures was Alexander Smith.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Regal Acquisitions purchased two properties in one transactions for a total of $11.7 million and sold two properties in two transactions for a total of $8.5 million over the past 24 months.
The seller Prudential Financial had not purchased any other properties and sold two properties in one transaction for a total of $64 million over the same time period.

Development

There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $5 million on this tax lot. On the tax lot, the most recent condominium plan was filed by 301 WEST 53RD STREET SPONSOR LLC to create 262 residential units and 2 commercial units in a building at 301 West 53rd Street in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan, called 301 West 53rd Street Condominium that has a $37.1 million sellout, according to an December 13, 2013 submission to the New York State Attorney General.

The neighborhood

In Hell’s Kitchen, the bulk, or 39 percent of the 41.9 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 17 percent of the space. In sales, Hell’s Kitchen has 3.8 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $1.4 billion in sales volume in the last two years and is the 10th highest in Manhattan. For development, Hell’s Kitchen has 3.2 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 5th highest in Manhattan. It had 3.1 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 7 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There was one pre-foreclosure suit filed among other retail buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of seven of the 12 commercial properties representing 100,115 square feet of the 325,118 square feet. The largest owner is City of New York, followed by New York Police Department and then Julian Romano.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 66 percent of the 308,501 square feet of built space are office buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 24 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Prudential Financial owned at least one commercial property in New York City with 235,564 square feet and a city-determined market value of $98.5 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $71 million in debt, borrowed from JPMorgan Chase. The portfolio consists of at least a single office property. It is located in Manhattan.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Regal Acquisitions owned at least five commercial properties in New York City with 48,671 square feet and a city-determined market value of $12.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $27.8 million in debt, with top three lenders as Piermont Bank, Republic First Bank, and TD Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 69 percent of the 48,671 square feet of built space are retail properties, with office properties next occupying 31 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.

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