Rusi and Shiraj Sanjana pay $6.5M for 11-unit dev site in Williamsburg

Rusi Sanjana and Shiraj Sanjana through three entities including Driggs Development LLC paid $6.5 million to the estate of Frank Frishtachi and Suzannah Matalon Fristachi through the entity Grand Art Gallery LLC for the development parcels including (V0) at 708, 710 and 712 Driggs Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

On these lots, there is one active new building construction project for a 11-unit, 23,317 square-foot R-2 building. The project was submitted by Shiraz Sanjana and filed by Shiraz Sanjana with plans filed March 26, 2024 and it has not been permitted yet.
The deal closed on April 23, 2024 and was recorded on May 8, 2024. The seven properties have zero square feet of built space and 17,756 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 17,756 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per buildable square foot is $366 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 the estate of Frank Frishtachi and Suzannah Matalon Fristachi was Suzannah Matalon Fristachi. The signatory for Rusi Sanjana and Shiraj Sanjana was Shiraj Sanjana. The contract date was July 31, 2023. The three buyer entities acquired the property through a tenant-in-common structure, so that Kane Street Holdings LLC owns 61% with signatory Rusi Sanjana, Driggs Development LLC owns 26% with signatory Shiraj Sanjana and Pier Pointe Properties LLC owns 13% with signatory Shiraj Sanjana. The contract date was given as July 31, 2024, but that’s after the sale date, so PincusCo has altered the date to July 31, 2023.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Rusi Sanjana had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The family of the late artist Frank Frishtachi had not purchased any other properties and sold one property for $8 million adjacent to this development site, over the same time period.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the properties for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have not received any significant violations in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Williamsburg, The bulk, or 39 percent of the 50.4 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 25 percent of the space. In sales, Williamsburg has the 4th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $2.2 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Williamsburg has 4.2 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 2nd highest in Brooklyn. It had 4.6 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 9 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On the tax block of 712 Driggs Avenue, PincusCo has identified the owners of five of the 27 commercial properties representing 35,316 square feet of the 103,118 square feet. The largest owner is Mordechai Jacobowitz, followed by Graph Group and then George Newshan.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 23,317 square feet. It is a 11-unit, 23,317 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Shiraz Sanjana and filed by Shiraz Sanjana with plans filed March 26, 2024 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 55 percent of the 103,118 square feet of built space are mixed-use buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 45 percent of the space.

Direct link to Acris document. link