Shashin Gandhi pays $18.2M for hotel in Hudson Yards

Shashin Gandhi through the entity Hudson West Hospitality LLC paid $18.2 million to Ae Sook Choi through the entity 36th Street Property Inc for the 56-room Hudson River Hotel building (H3) at 442 West 36th Street in Hudson Yards, Manhattan.
The deal closed on June 11, 2024 and was recorded on June 26, 2024. The property has 20,344 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $894 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 October 28, 2016, for $18.5 million. The signatory for Ae Sook Choi was Michael M. Nanosky. The signatory for Shashin S. Gandhi was Shashin Gandhi. The contract date was December 14, 2023.
To finance the purchase, Gandhi assumed a $14.2 million securitized loan, Series 2019-C17.

A Hilco Global team was marketing the property.

The largest owner on this tax block by square feet is Joy Construction with two buildings totaling 276,990 square feet and 303 residential units. Other owners include Sherwood Equities with a large development site at 452 10th Avenue, Edison Properties with a large surface parking lot at 451 Ninth Avenue, and building owners including Brahim Sinanovic, Clinton Housing Development Company, Kassin Sabbagh Realty, Maverick Properties, John Ilibassi and Keslow Properties.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Shashin S. Gandhi purchased one property in one transactions for a total of $7.3 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Ae Sook Choi had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period.

The property

The hotel building in Hudson Yards has 20,344 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 25 feet and is 98 feet deep with a total lot size of 2,468 square feet. The zoning is R8A which allows for up to 6.02 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $7.2 million. The most recent loan totaled $14.2 million and was provided by Ladder Capital on September 3, 2019.

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 neighborhood

In Hudson Yards, The majority, or 59 percent of the 16.8 million square feet of commercial built space are office buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 22 percent of the space. In sales, Hudson Yards has had very little sales volume relative to other neighborhoods with $115.6 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Hudson Yards has 1.9 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 16th highest in Manhattan. It had 2.1 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 12 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of nine of the 24 commercial properties representing 253,213 square feet of the 395,751 square feet.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 178,014 square feet. It is a 186-unit, 178,014 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Joy Construction and filed by Amnon Shalhov with plans filed November 4, 2013 and permitted August 29, 2014.

The majority, or 70 percent of the 395,751 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 21 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Ae Sook Choi owned at least one commercial property in New York City with 20,344 square feet and a city-determined market value of $7.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $14.2 million in debt, borrowed from Ladder Capital. The portfolio consists of at least a single hotel property. It is located in Manhattan.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Shashin S. Gandhi owned at least one commercial property in New York City with 12,202 square feet and a city-determined market value of $2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio consists of at least a single retail property. It is located in Queens.

Direct link to Acris document. link