Williamsburg office building sells for $26.5M

The entity Flushing Thornton LLC with the signatory Chaim Rabinovich paid $26.5 million for the ground lease and the fee to to Zachary Lewis, Bernard Ettinger, and Shiya Labin through the entity 731 Flushing Ave Realty LLC for the office building (O2) at 731 Flushing Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
The deal closed on December 10, 2024 and was recorded on December 24, 2024. The property has 73,210 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $362 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 Zachary Lewis, Bernard Ettinger, and Shiya Labin was Shiya Labin and Zachary Lewis. The signatory for buyer was Chaim E. Rabinovich. The contract date was December 26, 2023. The term of the lease commences on November 30, 2021 and expires on November 30, 2120. The ground lease sale was $26.2 million and the fee was $300,000 for a total of $26.5 million.
A school affiliated with Congregation Darkei Tshivo of Dinov occupies another building, 77 Wallabout Street, which Chaim Rabinovich is affiliated with.

Prior sales and revenue

The 73,210-square-foot property generated revenue of $2.4 million or $32 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The office building in Williamsburg has 73,210 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 138 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 15,000 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is C4-3 which allows for up to 3.4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 2.43 times FAR for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $18.2 million. The most recent loan totaled $16 million and was provided by Broadview Funding on November 30, 2021.

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 four DOB violations and $9,050 in OATH penalties 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 Williamsburg, The bulk, or 39 percent of the 50.4 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 25 percent of the space. In sales, Williamsburg has the 5th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $2 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Williamsburg is the 10th most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 4.3 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 8 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of six of the 20 commercial properties representing 115,350 square feet of the 165,004 square feet. The largest owner is NYC Top Construction, followed by Elysee Investment Company and then Avi Szenberg.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 46 percent of the 165,004 square feet of built space are office buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 38 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Shiya Labin owned at least three commercial properties with 82 residential units in New York City with 209,085 square feet and a city-determined market value of $22.7 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $40.1 million in debt, borrowed from Connectone Bank and Merchants Bank of Indiana. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 71 percent of the 209,085 square feet of built space are office properties, with elevator properties next occupying 29 percent of the space. They are all located in Brooklyn.
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Zachary Lewis owned at least one commercial property in New York City with 22,207 square feet and a city-determined market value of $2.5 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $5 million in debt, borrowed from Valley National Bank. The portfolio consists of at least a single P5 property. It is located in Bronx.

Direct link to Acris document. link