Witnick pays $20.8M to Granite International for two walkup properties in Chelsea

Witnick Real Estate Partners through the entity 108-110 9th Partners LLC paid $20.8 million to Granite International Management through the entity 110 Ninth Avenue Corp for the 17-unit residential walkup building (C7) at 108 Ninth Avenue in Chelsea, Manhattan and 17-unit residential walkup building (C7) at 110 Ninth Avenue in Chelsea, Manhattan.
The deal closed on November 22, 2022 and was recorded on December 5, 2022. The two properties have 22,617 square feet of built space and 78 square feet of additional air rights according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $917 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 Granite International Management was Alistair Economakis. The signatory for Witnick Real Estate Partners was Isaac Abraham.

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 108 Ninth Avenue.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, Pincusco has records that the buyer Witnick Real Estate Partners purchased 13 properties in 12 transactions for a total of $109.2 million and sold eight properties in seven transactions for a total of $31.4 million over the past 24 months.
The seller Granite International Management had not purchased any other properties and sold three properties in two transactions for a total of $30.5 million over the same time period. The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Catherine Economakis, head officer and Demetrios Yatrakis, officer. The business entities are Tri-Hill Management LLC and 110 Ninth Avenue Corp.

The property

The 108 Ninth Avenue parcel has frontage of 26 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 2,633 square feet. The zoning is C2-6A which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 4 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $3 million.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the properties since September of 2020. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have received $50 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 $5 million on this tax lot.

The block

On the tax block of 108 Ninth Avenue, PincusCo has identified the owners of seven of the 20 commercial properties representing 266,680 square feet of the 390,566 square feet. The largest owner is City of New York, followed by Stonehenge NYC and then Richard Kingman.
there are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 52 percent of the 387,887 square feet of built space are specialty buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 27 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Granite International Management owned at least three commercial properties in New York City with 55,545 square feet and a city-determined market value of $13.4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $15.5 million in debt, borrowed from JPMorgan Chase. Within the portfolio, all identified are walkup properties. They are all located in Manhattan.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Witnick Real Estate Partners owned at least 32 commercial properties in New York City with 349,184 square feet and a city-determined market value of $100.9 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $87.5 million in debt, with top three lenders as Signature Bank, Dime Community Bank, and Customers Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 78 percent of the 349,184 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with elevator properties next occupying 19 percent of the space. The bulk, or 65 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 35 percent of the space.

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