RoundSquare, VM Properties pay $6M for Chelsea dev site

RoundSquare Development and VM Properties Group through the entity 227w19owner LLC paid $6 million to Jerome T. Falk through the entity Janell Holding Corporation for the development site at 227 West 19th Street in Chelsea, Manhattan.
The deal closed on October 17, 2023 and was recorded on October 25, 2023.
RoundSquare Development through its affiliated construction management company RoundSquare Builders, plans to construct a high-end condominium building with approximately 11 units and approximately 25,000 square feet, according to Robert Kaliner, principal with RoundSquare. The project will include one townhouse as well as apartment units.

The existing property has 6,750 square feet of built space and 14,960 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 21,702 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $881 and the price per buildable square foot is $274 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 Jerome T. Falk was John T. Carpenter. The signatory for RoundSquare Development and VM Properties Group was Victor Perretta. The contract date was July 24, 2023.

The property

The office building in Chelsea has 6,750 square feet of built space and 14,960 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 21,702 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 37 feet and is 96 feet deep with a total lot size of 3,605 square feet. The zoning is C6-2A which allows for up to 6 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 6.02 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.5 million.

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 $50 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 Chelsea, The bulk, or 36 percent of the 52.4 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 6th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $2.3 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Chelsea has 2 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 14th highest in Manhattan. It had 2 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 4 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 11 of the 33 commercial properties representing 87,472 square feet of the 296,636 square feet. The largest owner is Suk Park, followed by Snir David and then Sabet Group.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 55 percent of the 296,636 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with office buildings next occupying 13 percent of the space.

Correction: A prior version of this story erroneously included another developer which is not involved in the project.

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