SMA Equities signs $31.2M refi with Safra National Bank for five properties in Manhattan
SMA Equities through the entity 108 Delancey Street Sm, LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender Safra National Bank valued at $31.2 million for five properties with 14 residential units including the eight-unit mixed-use building (K4) at 1220 Lexington Avenue in Carnegie Hill, Manhattan, office building (O5) at 108 Delancey Street in Lower East Side, Manhattan, and four-unit mixed-use building (S4) at 113 Stanton Street in Lower East Side, Manhattan.
The deal closed on December 20, 2024 and was recorded on January 24, 2025. The prior lender was Safra National Bank which held debt that had an original loan amount of $28 million. The five properties have 34,238 square feet of built space and 23,279 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 55,868 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $911 and the price per buildable square foot is $558 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 signatories for SMA Equities were Sassan Mahfar, Sina Mahfar, and Simin Mahfar. The signatories for Safra National Bank were Stephan Mazzacca and Charles Shafer.
Violations and lawsuits
The properties were involved in one lawsuit and zero bankruptcies over the past two years. The suit was a $308,886 money judgment concerning a retail lease filed on February 5, 2024, by SMA Equities and Sassan Mahfar against Chris Russow. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have received three DOB violations, $7,050 in ECB penalties, and $10,640 in OATH penalties 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 Carnegie Hill, The majority, or 56 percent of the 13.5 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 18 percent of the space. In sales, Carnegie Hill has 3.1 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $810.1 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 12th highest in Manhattan. For development, Carnegie Hill has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 26th highest in Manhattan. It had 1.1 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 8 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.
The block
On the tax block of 1220 Lexington Avenue, PincusCo has identified the owners of six of the 14 commercial properties representing 239,050 square feet of the 331,112 square feet. The largest owner is Douglaston Development, followed by Abro Management and then Trans World Equities.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 253,518 square feet. The largest is a 72-unit, 245,337 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Douglaston Development and filed by Steven Charno with plans filed February 26, 2024 and permitted October 18, 2024. The second largest is a one-unit, 8,181 square-foot residential (R-3) building submitted by Adam Sanders with plans filed July 15, 2016 and it has not been permitted yet.
The majority, or 68 percent of the 331,112 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 22 percent of the space.
The borrower
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Sma Equities owned at least 19 commercial properties with 546 residential units in New York City with 583,591 square feet and a city-determined market value of $128.1 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 43 percent of the 583,591 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with D7 properties next occupying 19 percent of the space. The bulk, or 86 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Queens next at 14 percent of the space.
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