Urban Resource Institute pays $25.9M for vacant lots in Harlem

Urban Resource Institute paid $25.9 million to Jonathan Faust, Michael Faust, and Jonathan Feigenbaum for two adjacent properties at 478 West 130th Street and 487 West 129th Street, in Harlem, Manhattan. They were previously part of a single tax lot, but prior to this sale were divided into two separate tax lots.

In the larger transaction by dollar amount, Urban Resource Institute through the entity 487 W 129th St Transitional Housing Dev Fund Corp paid $15.9 million to Jonathan Faust, Michael Faust, and Jonathan Feigenbaum through the entity West 129th Street Realty II, LLC for the property at 478 West 130th Street in Harlem, Manhattan.
The deal closed on June 11, 2024 and was recorded on June 21, 2024. The property has zero square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data.

In the second transaction, Urban Resource Institute through the entity 487 W 129th St Permanent Housing Dev Fund Corp paid $10 million to Jonathan Faust, Michael Faust, and Jonathan Feigenbaum through the entity West 129th Street Realty Ii, LLC for the development site (V1) at 487 West 129th Street in Harlem, Manhattan. The deal closed on June 11, 2024 and was recorded on June 21, 2024. The property has zero square feet of built space and 77,644 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 77,644 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per buildable square foot is $128 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 Jonathan Faust, Michael Faust, and Jonathan Feigenbaum was Jonathan Feigenbaum. The signatory for Urban Resource Institute was Nathaniel Fields. The contract date was November 3, 2023.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Urban Resource Institute purchased six properties in five transactions for a total of $135.1 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Jonathan Faust had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period.

The property

PincusCo cannot determine the lot area of the 478 West 130th Street parcel at this time.

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 not received any significant violations in the last year.

Development

On the lot, there is one active new building construction project for a 71-unit, 57,109 square-foot R-2 building. The project was submitted by Jonathan Feigenbaum and filed by Jonathan Feigenbaum with plans filed December 30, 2014 and permitted December 3, 2015.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of seven of the 16 commercial properties representing 296,265 square feet of the 581,015 square feet. The largest owner is Tony Huang, followed by Teresa Gottehrer and then Scharfman Organization.
On the tax block, there were three new building construction projects totaling 108,602 square feet. The largest is a 71-unit, 57,109 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Jonathan Feigenbaum and filed by Jonathan Feigenbaum with plans filed December 30, 2014 and permitted December 3, 2015. The second largest is a 69-unit, 47,600 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Jonathan Feigenbaum and filed by Jonathan Feigenbaum with plans filed October 10, 2014 and permitted December 3, 2015.

The majority, or 66 percent of the 581,015 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with industrial buildings next occupying 16 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Jonathan Feigenbaum owned at least four commercial properties with 113 residential units in New York City with 81,757 square feet and a city-determined market value of $7.9 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $10 million in debt, borrowed from Capital One. Within the portfolio, all identified are walkup properties. They are all located in Manhattan.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Urban Resource Institute owned at least six commercial properties with 130 residential units in New York City with 82,730 square feet and a city-determined market value of $11.9 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $175.4 million in debt, with top three lenders as 951 Olmstead Avenue Contract-Backed Pass-Through Trust, UMB Bank, and KeyBank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 62 percent of the 82,730 square feet of built space are N2 properties, with elevator properties next occupying 38 percent of the space. The bulk, or 38 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Manhattan next at 33 percent of the space.

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