Ruben Luna signs $8M acquisition loan with Key Food co-op for grocery building in Washington Heights

Ruben Luna through the entity Diluna Property LLC as borrower signed an acquisition loan with lender Key Food Stores Co-Operative valued at $8 million for the $18 million purchase of the retail building (K1) at 1221 Saint Nicholas Avenue in Washington Heights, Manhattan. The property spans the entire block front of Saint Nicholas Avenue from 171st Street to 172nd Street.

The owner bought the property on March 6, 2024, for $18.2 million from Sierra Assets Group.
The loan closed on March 6, 2024 and was recorded on March 20, 2024. The prior lender was Blackstone Group which held debt that had an original loan amount of $8 million.
The property has 17,100 square feet of built space and 41,724 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 58,824 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $467 and the price per buildable square foot is $136 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 Ruben Luna was Ruben Luna. The signatory for Key Food Stores Co-Operative was Samantha Quirk. Samantha Quirk is vice president of finance at Key Food Stores Co-Operative.

The property

The retail building in Washington Heights has 17,100 square feet of built space and 41,724 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 58,824 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 190 feet and is 90 feet deep with a total lot size of 17,100 square feet. 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 $6.3 million. The most recent loan totaled $8 million and was provided by Signature Bank on January 16, 2020.

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 $1,000 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 Washington Heights, The bulk, or 45 percent of the 65.9 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 27 percent of the space. In sales, Washington Heights has 1.6 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $466.8 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 20th highest in Manhattan. For development, Washington Heights has 1.5 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 18th highest in Manhattan. It had 1.5 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 2 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of six of the 10 commercial properties representing 201,226 square feet of the 261,662 square feet. The largest owner is Sky Management, followed by Ruben Luna and then Columbia University.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 11,718 square feet. It is a 14-unit, 11,718 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Nancy Lin with plans filed March 18, 2022 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 68 percent of the 261,662 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with retail buildings next occupying 17 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Ruben Luna owned at least four commercial properties in New York City with 55,700 square feet and a city-determined market value of $15.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 71 percent of the 55,700 square feet of built space are retail properties, with mixed-use properties next occupying 29 percent of the space. The bulk, or 40 percent of the built space, is in Bronx, with Manhattan next at 31 percent of the space.

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