Sentinel sells two rentals for $18.1M to Alma Realty, one was part of $4M kickback settlement

Sentinel Real Estate sold two rental buildings for $18.1 million to Alma Realty in two separate transactions that are the fourth and fifth sale by Sentinel Real Estate to Alma Realty this year. One of  these sales was among the 29 buildings Sentinel’s affiliates owned that were identified as part of an alleged $1 million renovation kickback scheme that resulted in the 29 Sentinel owner entities paying $4 million into a fund to preserve and expand affordable housing, according to the New York State Attorney General.

In the larger of the two recent transactions, Alma Realty through the entity Getty Industries LLC paid $11.1 million to Sentinel Real Estate through the entity 92 Pinehurst Avenue LLC for the 72-unit rental condominium unit at 92 Pinehurst Avenue in Washington Heights, Manhattan. This is the building was identified as part of the alleged kickback scheme.
The deal closed on August 30, 2023 and was recorded on September 13, 2023. The property has 72,986 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $152 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 1, 2016, for $25.6 million. The signatory for Sentinel Real Estate was Brian Ritter. The signatory for Alma Realty was Abraham Philip. The contract date was August 11, 2023.

In the second of the two transactions, Alma Realty through the entity Getty Industries LLC paid $7 million to Sentinel Real Estate through the entity 4-S Pinehurst Avenue LLC for the 43-unit residential elevator building (D1) at 4 South Pinehurst Avenue in Washington Heights, Manhattan. The deal closed on August 30, 2023 and was recorded on September 13, 2023. The property has 59,805 square feet of built space and 17,135 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 76,983 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $117 and the price per buildable square foot is $90 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.)

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Alma Realty purchased eight properties in eight transactions for a total of $44.6 million and sold one property in one transaction for a total of $4.3 million over the past 24 months.
The seller Sentinel Real Estate had not purchased any other properties and sold four properties in four transactions for a total of $33.8 million over the same time period.

The property

The rental condo with 72 residential units in Washington Heights has 72,986 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has a total lot size of 72,986 square feet. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $7.5 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 not received any significant 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 block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 18 of the 38 commercial properties representing 1,146,291 square feet of the 1,664,139 square feet. The largest owner is Vincent Garrow, followed by Sugar Hill Capital Partners and then Shahram Mobasser.
On the tax block, there were five new building construction projects totaling 30,591 square feet. The largest is a 21-unit, 18,154 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Yisroel Eckstein with plans filed September 11, 2020 and permitted June 9, 2022. The second largest is a one-unit, 4,554 square-foot residential (R-3) building submitted by Isaac Broyn with plans filed August 25, 2015 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 77 percent of the 1.7 million square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 11 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Sentinel Real Estate owned at least 15 commercial properties with 901 residential units in New York City with 916,538 square feet and a city-determined market value of $75.1 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $31.7 million in debt, borrowed from New York Community Bank. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 96 percent of the 916,538 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 4 percent of the space. The bulk, or 79 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Manhattan next at 21 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Alma Realty owned at least 123 commercial properties with 6,113 residential units in New York City with 5,540,968 square feet and a city-determined market value of $550.6 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $472.2 million in debt, with top three lenders as New York Community Bank, Efstathios Valiotis, and JPMorgan Chase respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 70 percent of the 5,540,968 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 24 percent of the space. The bulk, or 40 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Queens next at 29 percent of the space.

Direct link to Acris document. link