Rivington Company signs $14.5M ground lease for Two Bridges dev site

Travis Stabler’s Rivington Company through the entity 53 Catherine Owner LLC as tenant signed a 99-year ground lease valued at $14.5 million with Group RMC through the entity 53 Catherine NYC Realty LP as landlord, for the development site including the church building (M1) at 53 Catherine Street and the former rectory building (M3) at 5 Monroe Street in Two Bridges, Manhattan.
The deal closed on December 14, 2023 and was recorded on December 26, 2023. The two properties have 49,939 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $290 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 Group RMC was Robyn Pinson. The signatory for Rivington Company was John Travis Stabler. This is a 99-year ground lease expiring December 31, 2122, and the tenant has a right of first offer. Travis Stabler’s Rivington Company originally signed the purchase contract, but instead of closing on the sale, Group RMC bought the property, as PincusCo reported yesterday, then signed this 99-year ground lease with Rivington Company as tenant.

To finance the lease acquisition, Rivington Company borrowed $9.5 million from an affiliate of Rivington Company, through the entity 53 Catherine SL FIE LLC. In the loan transaction, Travis Stabler signed for both borrower and lender.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Rivington Company had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Group RMC purchased two properties in one transactions for a total of $14.5 million and had not sold any properties over the same time period.

The property

The specialty building in Two Bridges has 49,939 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 75 feet and is 107 feet deep with a total lot size of 7,673 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R7-2 which allows for up to 3.44 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $3.4 million.

Violations and lawsuits

The properties were involved in one court case and zero bankruptcies over the past two years. The court case was a necessary step for a religious group or nonprofit to sell a major asset. In this case it was a $14.5 million judgment concerning a leave to sell filed on June 19, 2023, by Roman Catholic Church and Church of St. Joachim with Rivington Company and Travis Stabler as the contract vendee. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have received one DOB violation and $2,700 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 neighborhood

In Two Bridges, The majority, or 61 percent of the 4.4 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 19 percent of the space. In sales, Two Bridges has had very little sales volume relative to other neighborhoods with $277.6 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Two Bridges has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 15,484 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 0.35 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On the tax block of 53 Catherine Street, PincusCo has identified the owners of seven of the 41 commercial properties representing 60,450 square feet of the 362,560 square feet. The largest owner is Yat Sun Poon, followed by Yan Harry and then Kevin Song.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 90 percent of the 362,560 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 8 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Group RMC owned at least two commercial properties in New York City with 49,939 square feet and a city-determined market value of $4.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 76 percent of the 49,939 square feet of built space are M1 properties, with M3 properties next occupying 24 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Rivington Company owned at least 11 commercial properties with 12 residential units in New York City with 76,019 square feet and a city-determined market value of $12.9 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $127 million in debt, with top three lenders as American Life & Security, Post Road Group, and GT Partners respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 44 percent of the 76,019 square feet of built space are office properties, with M1 properties next occupying 35 percent of the space. They are all located in Brooklyn.

Direct link to Acris document. link