van Leenen developments pays $2M to Oak Tree Residential for 8-unit walkup in Crown Heights

van Leenen developments and Rufina Litvak through the entity 244 Ny Rl LLC paid $2 million to Oak Tree Residential through the entity Ota 244 New York, LLC for the eight-unit residential walkup building (C1) at 244 New York Avenue in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. The expected use is cash flowing.
The deal closed on September 11, 2025 and was recorded on October 10, 2025. The property has 7,984 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $254 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 seller bought the property on May 18, 2017, for $2.9 million. The signatory for Oak Tree Residential was Jeremiah Lucey . The signatory for van Leenen developments and Rufina Litvak was Stuart Van Leenen . The contract date was June 16, 2025.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer van Leenen developments had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Oak Tree Residential had not purchased any other properties and sold seven properties in seven transactions for a total of $20.1 million over the same time period. The 7,984-square-foot property generated revenue of $162,634 or $20 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The residential walkup building with 8 residential units in Crown Heights has 7,984 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 30 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 3,000 square feet. The zoning is R6 which allows for up to 2.43 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The property is in the Crown Heights North II Historic District. The property has 3 rent regulated units according to city tax records from 2023.

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 received 27 housing violations, $875 in OATH penalties, and one housing litigation 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 block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 27 of the 38 commercial properties representing 181,159 square feet of the 231,241 square feet. The largest owner is Jay Lubin, followed by Jay Gold and then Doreen T. Ellis.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 85 percent of the 231,241 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 15 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Oak Tree Residential owned at least 16 commercial properties with 241 residential units in New York City with 197,729 square feet and a city-determined market value of $27.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $39.3 million in debt, borrowed from Metropolitan Commercial Bank. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 75 percent of the 197,729 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with elevator properties next occupying 20 percent of the space. The bulk, or 80 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Manhattan next at 20 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Rufina Litvak owned at least one commercial property with four residential units in New York City with 5,750 square feet and a city-determined market value of $1,000,000. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio consists of at least a single C3 property. It is located in Brooklyn.

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