Rybak Development pays $12M to Sapir for retail building in Grand Central

Rybak Development through the entity 218 Madison Avenue Development LLC paid $12 million to Sapir Organization through the entity Asrr Suzer 218 LLC for the retail building (O5) at 218 Madison Avenue in Grand Central, Manhattan.
The deal closed on December 14, 2023 and was recorded on December 20, 2023. The property has 11,362 square feet of built space and 23,830 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 35,200 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $1,056 and the price per buildable square foot is $340 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 seller bought the property on February 26, 2015, for $8.1 million. The signatory for Sapir Organization was Sharon Raz. The signatory for Rybak Development was Sergey Rybak. The contract date was September 27, 2023. Sapir Organization filed plans to renovate the building but not plans to demolish the building.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Rybak Development purchased four properties in three transactions for a total of $55.7 million and sold one property in one transaction for a total of $2.8 million over the past 24 months.
The seller Sapir Organization had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period.

The property

The retail building with 1 residential units in Grand Central has 11,362 square feet of built space and 23,830 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 35,200 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 37 feet and is 95 feet deep with a total lot size of 3,520 square feet. The zoning is C5-2 which allows for up to 10 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 10 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $3.2 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 two DOB violations 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 Grand Central, The majority, or 83 percent of the 43.5 million square feet of commercial built space are office buildings, with hotel buildings next occupying 8 percent of the space. In sales, Grand Central has 2.6 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $897 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 15th highest in Manhattan. For development, Grand Central has 2.6 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 11th highest in Manhattan. It had 2.6 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 6 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of three of the 10 commercial properties representing 319,780 square feet of the 558,586 square feet. The largest owner is Rudin Management, followed by Rosen Equities and then Cammeby’s International Group.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 169,626 square feet. The largest is a 121-unit, 89,376 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by David Bildirici with plans filed March 23, 2022 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a 121-unit, 80,250 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Yusuf Bildirici with plans filed February 26, 2021 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 56 percent of the 558,586 square feet of built space are office buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 38 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Sapir Organization owned at least three commercial properties in New York City with 1,036,369 square feet and a city-determined market value of $285.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $290.1 million in debt, borrowed from JPMorgan Chase and Tel Aviv Stock Exchange bondholders. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 88 percent of the 1,036,369 square feet of built space are office properties, with hotel properties next occupying 12 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Rybak Development owned at least six commercial properties with 55 residential units in New York City with 95,183 square feet and a city-determined market value of $33.6 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $267.1 million in debt, with top three lenders as Valley National Bank, MF1 Capital, and Bank Leumi respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 40 percent of the 95,183 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with development properties next occupying 37 percent of the space. The bulk, or 63 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Queens next at 37 percent of the space.

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