Rybak files plans for 23-unit project in Midtown East

Sergey Rybak, CEO of Rybak Development submitted a new building construction project for a 23-unit, 52,895 square-foot residential (R-2) building at 656 Lexington Avenue in Midtown East, Manhattan. The plan was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings on November 1, 2022 under job number M08028413. It calls for the construction of a 21-story building. The project is described in the filing as: mixed-use building. The architect is Zproekt Architecture.

Rybak Development bought the parcel December 6, 2021 for $24.4 million.

The property

The property is owned by Rybak Development. The 133 East 55 Street parcel has frontage of 60 feet and is 73 feet deep with a total lot size of 4,410 square feet. The zoning is C5-2.5 which allows for up to 12 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $7.2 million. The most recent loan totaled $5 million and was provided by Emerald Creek Capital on April 26, 2021.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has received one DOB violation and $80 in OATH penalties in the last year.

The property was involved in one lawsuit and zero bankruptcies over the past two years. The suit was a $2 million money judgment concerning a contract filed on June 5, 2022, by Rybak Development against Saundra Grundwerg, Joan Capaccio, and Mary Anderson Dillon.

The neighborhood

In Midtown East, the majority, or 82 percent of the 61.5 million square feet of commercial built space are office buildings, with hotel buildings next occupying 7 percent of the space. In sales, Midtown East has the 2nd highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $3.3 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Midtown East is the most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 15.1 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 25 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 13 of the 41 commercial properties representing 952,512 square feet of the 1,448,943 square feet. The largest owner is BentallGreenOak, followed by Palin Enterprises and then Solil Management. On the tax block, there were three new building construction projects totaling 624,252 square feet. The largest is a 511,538 square-foot B building developed by William Potts with plans filed September 18, 2013 and permitted August 18, 2014. The second largest is a 62-unit, 59,819 square-foot R-2 building developed by Arthur Zeckendorf III with plans filed August 12, 2019 and permitted January 28, 2020.

The owner

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Rybak Development owned at least nine commercial properties in New York City with 297,249 square feet and a city-determined market value of $36.5 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $257.1 million in debt, with top three lenders as Valley National Bank, MF1 Capital, and Bank Leumi respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 50 percent of the 297,249 square feet of built space are rental condo properties, with elevator properties next occupying 18 percent of the space. The bulk, or 81 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Queens next at 12 percent of the space.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 133 East 55 Street, Pincusco identified 12 commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those 12 items, one was in new building development. It was a new building permit issued on November 19, 2020 for a 59,819-square-foot R-2 building with 62 residential units at 115 East 55th Street. Of those 12 items, four were sales above $5 million totaling $119.8 million. The most recent of the four was Henry Zheng and Sherry Xu Zheng which bought the 18,281-square-foot, one-unit hotel (HB) on 152 East 55th Street for $17.5 million from Alfredo V. Pedro on August 31, 2022. Of those 12 items, seven were loans above $5 million totaling $755 million. The most recent of the seven was Henry Zheng and Sherry Xu Zheng which borrowed $11.3 million from NewBank secured by the 18,281-square-foot, one-unit hotel (HB) on 152 East 55th Street on August 31, 2022.

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