Shel Capital pays $68.5M for 105-unit rental in Gowanus, was $81.2M in 2018

Shel Capital through the entity Eleventh-SB LLC paid $68.5 million to Trinity Place Holdings through the entity 470 4th Avenue Fee Owner, LLC for the 105-unit residential elevator building (D6) at 237 11th Street in Gowanus, Brooklyn. The expected use is cash flowing. Steel Partners Holdings purchased a large number of shares in Trinity Place Holdings, allowing Steel Partners to name a new board of directors for Trinity. The seller entity was listed at the address of Davidson Kempner Capital Management, which was involved in the sale of shares to Steel Partners.
The deal closed on March 14, 2025 and was recorded on March 19, 2025. The property has 92,722 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $738 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.)
Trinity Place Holdings bought the property on May 24, 2018, for $81.2 million. The signatory for Davidson Kempner Capital Management , Trinity Place Holdings , and Steel Partners Holdings was Daniel Bartok. The signatory for Shel Capital was Rony Kravel. The contract date was January 7, 2025. According to a Trinity Place Holdings SEC filing, “on February 5, 2025, the Company entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement (the “Stock Purchase Agreement”) with TPHS Lender LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Seller” or “TPHS Lender”) and Steel IP Investments, LLC (the “Purchaser”), an affiliate of Steel Partners Holdings L.P. (“Steel Partners”), …Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP, a Delaware limited partnership and a registered investment adviser with the SEC (“DKCM”) is the investment manager of the ultimate members of TPHS Lender. DKCM is responsible for the voting and investment decisions of TPHS Lender. ”

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Shel Capital had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Richard Pyontek, head officer and Calynne Oyolokor, officer. The business entities are Firstservice Residential and 470 4th Avenue Fee Owner, Llc. The 92,722-square-foot property generated revenue of $5.2 million or $56 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The residential elevator building with 105 residential units in Gowanus has 92,722 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 126 feet and is 120 feet deep with a total lot size of 14,076 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is C4-4D which allows for up to 3.4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 6.02 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The property has a 421A exemption that started in 2020 and expires in 2035. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $18.7 million. The most recent loan totaled $50 million and was provided by Natixis on June 10, 2021. The property has 105 rent regulated units according to city tax records from 2022.

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 received one DOB violation, $2,500 in ECB penalties, and $5,780 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

For the tax lot building, it received its initial certificate of occupancy on August 1, 2017. 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 three of the nine commercial properties representing 103,040 square feet of the 117,868 square feet. The largest owner is Trinity Place Holdings, followed by Thomas Cucco and then MRM Equity.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 85 percent of the 117,868 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 15 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Trinity Place Holdings owned at least one commercial property with 105 residential units in New York City with 92,722 square feet and a city-determined market value of $18.7 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $269.1 million in debt, with top three lenders as Macquarie Group, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, and Natixis respectively. The portfolio consists of at least a single elevator property. It is located in Brooklyn.
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Davidson Kempner Capital Management owned at least one commercial property in New York City with 517,158 square feet and a city-determined market value of $138.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $150 million in debt, borrowed from Apollo Global Management. The portfolio consists of at least a single hotel property. It is located in Manhattan.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Shel Capital owned at least 27 commercial properties with 304 residential units in New York City with 455,155 square feet and a city-determined market value of $119.5 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $29.1 million in debt, borrowed from Citibank. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 47 percent of the 455,155 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with office properties next occupying 23 percent of the space. The bulk, or 72 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 28 percent of the space.

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