Wafra files plans for 132-unit condo on UWS, second largest in Manhattan this year

The Kuwait-backed Wafra Inc., through the entity 720 WEA Ventures LLC, submitted a plan to create 132 residential units in a building at 720 West End Avenue in the  Upper West Side, Manhattan, called the 720 West End Avenue Condominium, according to an November 29, 2022 submission to the New York State Attorney General. The principal of the sponsor, 720 WEA Ventures LLC, was Michael Gontar, who is CEO of InterVest Capital Partners, formerly known as Wafra Capital Partners.

This is the second-largest condo filing in Manhattan this year. The largest was Emmut Properties plan to develop 145 units at 45 West 81st Street, also on the Upper West Side.

The property

The property in Upper West Side has 237,507 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The property is owned by Wafra Inc. The parcel has frontage of 175 feet and is 125 feet deep with a total lot size of 20,150 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R10A which allows for up to 10 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The property is in the Riverside-West End Historic District Extension II. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $26.3 million. The most recent loan totaled $180.8 million and was provided by Pacific Western Bank on December 22, 2021.

Prior sales and revenue

This property was sold by Brack Capital Real Estate for $168 million to Wafra Inc. on December 22, 2021.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has received two DOB violations, $18,125 in ECB penalties, and $18,375 in OATH penalties in the last year.

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months.

The neighborhood

In Upper West Side, The majority, or 59 percent of the 52.9 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 23 percent of the space. In sales, Upper West Side has the 5th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $2.2 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Upper West Side has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 11th highest in Manhattan. It had 2.2 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 4 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 10 of the 22 commercial properties representing 127,269 square feet of the 245,049 square feet. The largest owner is Time Equities, followed by HUBB NYC and then Schreiber Properties. On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 356,881 square feet. The largest is a 130-unit, 232,290 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by JVP Management and filed by John Illuzzi with plans filed January 27, 2020 and permitted June 8, 2020. The second largest is a 171-unit, 124,591 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Fetner Properties and filed by Hal Fetner with plans filed March 16, 2021 and permitted June 16, 2022.

The owner

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Wafra Inc. owned at least one commercial property in New York City with 237,507 square feet and a city-determined market value of $26.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $180.8 million in debt, borrowed from Pacific Western Bank. The portfolio consists of at least a single N2 property. It is located in Manhattan.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 273 West 95 Street, PincusCo identified 10 commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those 10 items, one was in new building development. It was a new building permit issued on June 16, 2022 for a 124,591-square-foot residential (R-2) building with 171 residential units at 270 West 96th Street. Of those 10 items, five were sales above $5 million totaling $378.2 million. The most recent of the five was Aya Acquisitions which bought the 135,463-square-foot, 101-unit rental (D6) on 740 West End Avenue for $50.8 million from Anne M. Fried and Penny Resnick Graulich on July 13, 2022. Of those 10 items, four were loans above $5 million totaling $311.8 million. The most recent of the four was Steven Miller in which borrowed $24.5 million from Berkadia Commercial Mortgage secured by the 192,000-square-foot, 145-unit rental (D1) on 711 West End Avenue on June 7, 2022.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.