Rockfeld files plans for 20 units in Chinatown, converting from office

Rockfeld Group, in a joint venture with J. Safra Group, submitted major alteration applications this month for the conversion of two adjacent commercial buildings with no residential units at 181-183 Canal Street in Chinatown, Manhattan, into a single building with 20 residential units. The two plans, one for each building, were filed with the New York City Department of Buildings on May 6, 2025 under job number M01097208 and M01097210. They call for renovations of the five-story buildings. The projects are described in the filings as: Combine 2 buildings into 1; change of use on cellar & 1st floor; Change of use on 2nd-5th floor; Work involves demo and modification of flooring/walls/ceiling; and egress.
Jason Friedman filed the plans.

The property

The office buildings in Chinatown have about 16,000 square feet of built space combined, according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 40 feet and is 74 feet deep with a total lot size of 3,140 square feet. The lot is irregular.

Prior sales and revenue

Rockfeld Group sold a 50 percent stake in the two properties for $18.6 million to J. Safra Group on November 17, 2021.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has received one DOB violation in the last year.

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months.

The neighborhood

In Chinatown, The bulk, or 36 percent of the 8.4 million square feet of commercial built space are walkup buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 17 percent of the space. In sales, Chinatown has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $216.2 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 29th highest in Manhattan. For development, Chinatown has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 36th highest in Manhattan. It had 263,205 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 three of the 13 commercial properties representing 30,575 square feet of the 258,790 square feet. The two identified owners are Gregory Dadourian and J. Safra Group. There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The owner

The PincusCo database currently indicates that J. Safra Group owned at least two commercial properties in New York City with 15,800 square feet and a city-determined market value of $6.4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, all identified are office properties. They are all located in Manhattan.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 181 Canal Street, PincusCo identified three commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those three items, three were loans above $5 million totaling $37 million. The most recent of the three was Miriam Chan in which borrowed $22 million from Preferred Bank secured by the 54,040-square-foot, six-unit office building (O6) on 78 Bowery and six other properties on April 3, 2025.

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