Yacov Smouha pays $16M for mixed-use in Chinatown

Yacov Smouha through the entity CSP Properties LLC paid $16 million to Dorothy W. Lu through the entity 78 Walker LLC for the mixed-use building (K4) at 78 Walker Street in Chinatown, Manhattan.
The deal closed on May 15, 2024 and was recorded on May 28, 2024. The property has 41,200 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $388 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 Dorothy W. Lu was Dorothy W. Lu. The signatory for Yacov Smouha was Yacov Smouha. The contract date was July 26, 2023.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Yacov Smouha had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Dorothy W. Lu had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period.

The property

The mixed-use building in Chinatown has 41,200 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 48 feet and is 101 feet deep with a total lot size of 4,551 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is M1-5 which allows for up to 5 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing. The property is in the Tribeca East Historic District. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.5 million.

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 10 DOB violations, $3,780 in ECB penalties, and $8,130 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 Chinatown, The bulk, or 36 percent of the 8.4 million square feet of commercial built space are walkup buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 17 percent of the space. In sales, Chinatown has had very little sales volume relative to other neighborhoods with $111.1 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Chinatown has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 522,923 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 6 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of four of the 17 commercial properties representing 73,381 square feet of the 411,192 square feet. The largest owner is Teddy Tie Cheng Li, followed by Haim Kedmi and then David Zahabian.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 60 percent of the 411,192 square feet of built space are office buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 17 percent of the space.

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