Thor, ASB Capital sell FiDi retail for $4.95M to Torkian Group, bought for $31M

Hersel Torkian’s Torkian Group through the entity 120 Greenwich Investors LLC paid $5 million to Joseph Sitt’s Thor Equities and ASB Capital Management through the entity Thor ASB 120 Greenwich LLC for three retail condominium units at 120 Greenwich Street in Financial District, Manhattan.
Thor and ASB Capital Management bought the retail units in July 2014 for $31.1 million. The sale represents an 84 percent decline in value.

The partners sold 155 Mercer Street to James Dyson for $60 million.
The deal closed on July 16, 2024 and was recorded on July 22, 2024. The three units have 4,683 square feet of built space on the ground floor and lower levels, according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $1,057 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 signatory for Thor Equities and ASB Capital Management was Brodie Ruland of ASB. The signatory for the Torkian Group was Hersel Torkian. The contract date was May 9, 2024.

The square feet of each of the retail condo units totaling 4,683 square feet is visible on page 19 of the pdf.

The Commercial Observer reported on the 2014 purchase by Thor Equities and partner ASB Capital Management, who paid $31.1 million for the three retail condo units with a total of 4,683 square feet, on July 31, 2014, or approximately $6,600 per square foot.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Torkian Group purchased one property in one transaction for a total of $7.2 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Thor Equities purchased one property in one transaction for a total of $8.1 million and sold or turned over seven properties in seven transactions for a total of approximately $140 million over the same time period.

The property

The retail condo in Financial District has 4,683 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has a total lot size of 2,760 square feet. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.1 million.

Violations and lawsuits

The properties were involved in one lawsuit and zero bankruptcies over the past two years. The suit was a $1.1 million money judgment concerning a contract filed on January 31, 2024, by New York Hotel Trades Council and Hotel Association of NYC, Inc. Employee Benefit Funds against LuxUrban Hotels. 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 Financial District, The majority, or 74 percent of the 79.9 million square feet of commercial built space are office buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 15 percent of the space. In sales, Financial District has the 4th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $2.4 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Financial District is the 3rd most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 9.4 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 the tax block of 120 Greenwich Street, PincusCo has identified the owners of seven of the 12 commercial properties representing 170,174 square feet of the 357,339 square feet. The largest owner is Torkian Group, followed by King’S College and then Grubb Properties.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 340,376 square feet. It is a 388-unit, 340,376 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Grubb Properties and filed by Richard Ohebshalom with plans filed December 11, 2014 and permitted December 7, 2015.

The majority, or 66 percent of the 357,339 square feet of built space are hotel buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 16 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Thor Equities owned at least 23 commercial properties with 274 residential units in New York City with 652,303 square feet and a city-determined market value of $166.6 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $248.8 million in debt, with top three lenders as MetLife, Athene Holding, and AB CarVal Investors respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 32 percent of the 652,303 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with industrial properties next occupying 23 percent of the space. The bulk, or 75 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 25 percent of the space.
The PincusCo database currently indicates that ASB Capital Management owned at least three commercial properties with five residential units in New York City with 117,271 square feet and a city-determined market value of $48.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 63 percent of the 117,271 square feet of built space are retail properties, with office properties next occupying 37 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Torkian Group owned at least 10 commercial properties with 168 residential units in New York City with 167,189 square feet and a city-determined market value of $94.4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $264.7 million in debt, with top three lenders as Valley National Bank, Bank Leumi, and New York Community Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 72 percent of the 167,189 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with mixed-use properties next occupying 19 percent of the space. The bulk, or 97 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 3 percent of the space.

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