Saffayeh Group, Fouerti Realty close on previously reported $19M Chelsea conversion project

Saffayeh Group and Fouerti Realty through the entity 324 West 15th Street LLC recorded their $19 million purchase from the Corlears School for the school building (W8) at 324 West 15th Street in Chelsea, Manhattan. The expected use is conversion to residential.
The deal closed on May 4, 2026 and was recorded on May 8, 2026. The property has 19,777 square feet of built space and 9,409 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 29,176 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $960 and the price per buildable square foot is $651 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 Corlears School was David Egolf. The signatory for Saffayeh Group and Fouerti Realty was Elie Fouerti . The contract date was September 25, 2025. PincusCo exclusively reported this on April 14, 2026.

Prior sales, articles and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Saffayeh Group had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Corlears School had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period. The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Robert Fantauzzi, head officer and David Egolf, officer. The business entity is Corlears School.

The property

The specialty building with 2 residential units in Chelsea has 19,777 square feet of built space and 9,409 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 29,176 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 75 feet and is 103 feet deep with a total lot size of 7,294 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R8B which allows for up to 4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $2.9 million.

Transaction Participants

Yevgeny Tsyngauz at Tsyngauz & Associates, P.C. participated in the transaction on behalf of the buyer .

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 not received any significant violations in the last year.

Development

For the tax lot building, it received its initial certificate of occupancy on September 21, 2012. 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 Chelsea, The bulk, or 35 percent of the 52.5 million square feet of commercial built space are office buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 28 percent of the space. In sales, Chelsea has the 8th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $1.4 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Chelsea has 2 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 13th highest in Manhattan. It had 3.3 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 14 of the 26 commercial properties representing 205,321 square feet of the 322,590 square feet. The largest owner is Felix Bernardo, followed by Superior Management and then Tavros Holdings.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 50 percent of the 322,590 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 23 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Corlears School owned at least one commercial property with two residential units in New York City with 19,777 square feet and a PincusCo-determined asset value of $3.3 million. The portfolio has $17.9 million in debt, borrowed from Urban Standard Capital and Piermont Bank. The portfolio consists of at least a single specialty property.

The buyer

Fouerti Realty maintains a diverse NYC real estate portfolio valued at $340.8 million, ranking as the city’s 627th largest by dollar value. Their holdings are concentrated in Manhattan (57%) and Brooklyn (42%), primarily featuring specialty and elevator buildings. While the portfolio’s 170,221 square footage (1717th largest) leans heavily toward Brooklyn (75%), its 15 properties are more evenly split. Residential operations are a core focus, with 532 units—mostly in Brooklyn—placing Fouerti 559th in that category. Overall, the portfolio reflects a strategic mix of high-value Manhattan assets and significant residential footprints in Brooklyn’s elevator-style buildings.

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