Yacov Smouha signs $21.5M acquisition loan with White Oak, Thorofare for storage in Chinatown

Yacov Smouha through the entity CSP Properties LLC as borrower signed a acquisition loan with lender White Oak Real Estate Advisors and Thorofare Capital through the entity Thorofare Asset Based Lending Reit Fund V, LLC valued at $21.5 million for the conversion of a mixed-use building to storage at 78 Walker Street in Chinatown, Manhattan.

The loan is for the purchase and conversion of the building into a self-storage facility that will be operated by Public Storage, according to a press release the lenders published in May.
The deal closed on May 15, 2024 and was recorded on September 13, 2024. The property has 41,200 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $521 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 owner bought the property on May 15, 2024, for $16 million. The signatory for Yacov Smouha was Yacov Smouha.

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 nine DOB violations, $13,750 in ECB penalties, and $18,735 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 $137.5 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 440,994 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 5 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of five of the 17 commercial properties representing 114,581 square feet of the 411,192 square feet. The largest owner is Teddy Tie Cheng Li, followed by Betesh Co. 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.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Yacov Smouha owned at least one commercial property in New York City with 41,200 square feet and a city-determined market value of $1.5 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio consists of at least a single mixed-use property. It is located in Manhattan.

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