Sabet Group signs $25M refi for two walkups in Chelsea

Sabet Group through the entity 224-30 Eighth Ave LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender Citibank through the entity Citi Real Estate Funding Inc. valued at $25 million for two residential walkup properties with 44 residential units including the 22-unit residential walkup building (C7) at 224 Eighth Avenue and the 22-unit residential walkup building (C7) at 228 Eighth Avenue in Chelsea, Manhattan.
The deal closed on January 31, 2025 and was recorded on February 4, 2025. The prior lender was Hanmi Bank which held debt that had an original loan amount of $11 million.The two properties have 31,705 square feet of built space and 471 square feet of additional air rights according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $788 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 Sabet Group was Alfred Sabetfard. The signatory for Citibank was Anna Guttridge.

Because multiple properties have been transacted, some of the following sections will follow the property with the largest assessed value, which in this case, is the property on 224 8th Avenue.

Prior sales and revenue

The owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Sonia Jaye, head officer and Seth Weinstein, officer. The business entity is 224 Eighth Avenue Corp. Out of the two properties, one with a total of 31,705 square feet of built space generated revenue of $964,872 per year.

The property

The residential walkup building with 22 residential units in Chelsea has 31,705 square feet of built space and 471 square feet of additional air rights according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 40 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 4,000 square feet. The zoning is C1-6A which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 4 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $5.7 million. The most recent loan totaled $11 million and was provided by Hanmi Bank on June 26, 2023. The property has 11 rent regulated units according to city tax records from 2023.

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 received three DOB violations, $14,375 in ECB penalties, 62 housing violations, $16,525 in OATH penalties, and one housing litigation 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 block

On the tax block of 224 8th Avenue, PincusCo has identified the owners of 15 of the 20 commercial properties representing 306,819 square feet of the 343,945 square feet. The largest owner is S.W. Management, followed by Empire Management and then Sabet Group.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 53 percent of the 343,945 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 40 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Sabet Group owned at least 45 commercial properties with 760 residential units in New York City with 684,389 square feet and a city-determined market value of $203.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $458.6 million in debt, with top three lenders as Signature Bank, Citibank, and Greystone & Co. respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 58 percent of the 684,389 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with hotel properties next occupying 19 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.

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