Tower Real Estate pays $5M for 42-unit dev site in Bedford Stuyvesant

Tower Real Estate Investments through the entity Landmark Living LLC paid $5 million to King Emmanuel Missionary Baptist Church for the specialty building (M9) at 188 Bainbridge Street, 340 Malcolm X Boulevard and the two-unit mixed-use building (S2) at 344 Malcolm X Boulevard, all in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. The expected use is ground up development.

On these lots, there is one active new building construction project, B01003720, for a 42-unit, 31,195 square-foot residential (R-2) building. The project was submitted by Tower Real Estate Investments and filed by Michael Reihanian with plans filed March 5, 2024 and it has not been permitted yet.

The deal closed on October 10, 2024 and was recorded on November 4, 2024. The three properties have 22,548 square feet of built space and 6,955 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 29,500 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $221 and the price per buildable square foot is $169 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 King Emmanuel Missionary Baptist Church was Martha McCoy. The signatory for Tower Real Estate Investments was Rafael Reihanian. The contract date was March 10, 2022. PincusCo reported on the transaction after the parties recorded a memorandum of contract.

Because multiple properties have been transacted, some of the following sections will follow the property with the largest assessed value, which in this case, is the property on 188 Bainbridge Street.

The property

The specialty building in Bedford Stuyvesant has 22,548 square feet of built space and 6,955 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 29,500 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 80 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 8,000 square feet. The zoning is R6B which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $468,000.

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 received $12,500 in ECB penalties and $14,350 in OATH penalties in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Bedford Stuyvesant, The bulk, or 35 percent of the 54.8 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 29 percent of the space. In sales, Bedford Stuyvesant has the 8th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $1.1 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Bedford Stuyvesant has 2.6 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 5 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On the tax block of 188 Bainbridge Street, PincusCo has identified the owners of six of the 12 commercial properties representing 81,660 square feet of the 99,132 square feet. The largest owner is Carlyle Group, followed by David Chemtob and then Joseph Yaakovzadeh.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 34,195 square feet. The largest is a 42-unit, 31,195 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Tower Real Estate Investments and filed by Michael Reihanian with plans filed March 5, 2024 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a three-unit, 3,000 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Rona Reodica with plans filed March 5, 2019 and permitted December 7, 2021.

The majority, or 72 percent of the 99,132 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 23 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Tower Real Estate Investments owned at least three commercial properties with two residential units in New York City with 22,548 square feet and a city-determined market value of $2.1 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 64 percent of the 22,548 square feet of built space are M9 properties, with M1 properties next occupying 24 percent of the space. They are all located in Brooklyn.

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