Steven Straus pays $3.6M for retail in Boerum Hill

Steven Straus through the entity AJ Smith 169, LLC paid $3.6 million for two retail condominium units at 173 Smith Street in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. The expected use is cash flowing.
The deal closed on March 18, 2026 and was recorded on March 30, 2026. The two properties have 1,710 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $2,083 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 the sellers were Peter Kunzler and Rhoda Kunzler. The signatory for Steven Straus was Steven Straus. The contract date was February 3, 2026.

Prior sales, articles and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Steven Straus had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Peter Kunzler had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period.

The property

The retail condo in Boerum Hill has 1,710 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has a total lot size of 848 square feet. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $386,253.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the properties for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have 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 Boerum Hill, The bulk, or 32 percent of the 9 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 16 percent of the space. In sales, Boerum Hill has 2.3 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $739.5 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 9th highest in Brooklyn. For development, Boerum Hill has 1.8 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 5th highest in Brooklyn. It had 2.8 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 30 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On the tax block of 173 Smith Street, PincusCo has identified the owners of 10 of the 19 commercial properties representing 70,594 square feet of the 101,341 square feet. The largest owner is Mindy Guzzone, followed by Ralph Della Cava Jr. and then Black Horse Capital.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 48 percent of the 101,341 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 32 percent of the space.

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