Yossef Azour pays $9.5M for retail REO in Midtown East

Yossef Azour through the entity 3 E 48th Development LLC paid $9.5 million through a real estate owned sale to bondholders of Comm 2014-UBS4 serviced by LNR Partners through the entity Comm 2014-UBS4 Fifth Avenue, LLC for the mixed-use building (K4) at 3 East 48th Street in Midtown East, Manhattan. The expected use is cash flowing.
The deal closed on March 24, 2026 and was recorded on April 1, 2026. The property has 14,701 square feet of built space and 10,391 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 25,100 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $646 and the price per buildable square foot is $378 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 seller bought the property on July 8, 2011, for $9.5 million. The signatory for Comm 2014-UBS4 and LNR Partners was Randall Rosen . The signatory for Yossef Azour was Yossef Azour. The contract date was January 7, 2026.

Prior sales, articles and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Yossef Azour had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Comm 2014-UBS4 purchased two properties in one transaction for a total of $153.7 million and had not sold any properties over the same time period.

The property

The mixed-use building in Midtown East has 14,701 square feet of built space and 10,391 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 25,100 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 25 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 2,510 square feet. The zoning is C5-3 which allows for up to 15 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 10 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $5.5 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 $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 $1 million on this tax lot.

The neighborhood

In Midtown East, The majority, or 81 percent of the 62.6 million square feet of commercial built space are office buildings, with hotel buildings next occupying 7 percent of the space. In sales, Midtown East has the 2nd highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $4.9 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Midtown East is the 3rd most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 19.1 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 31 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There were 90 pre-foreclosure suit filed among other mixed-use buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 13 of the 20 commercial properties representing 2,234,848 square feet of the 2,546,047 square feet. The largest owner is Sl Green Realty, followed by Kato Kagaku and then Comm 2014-Ubs4.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 285,606 square feet. It is a 285,606 square-foot business (B) building submitted by Albert Sanfilippo with plans filed June 30, 2022 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 93 percent of the 2.5 million square feet of built space are office buildings, with retail buildings next occupying 5 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Comm 2014-Ubs4 owned at least two commercial properties in New York City with 67,428 square feet and a city-determined market value of $48.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 78 percent of the 67,428 square feet of built space are retail properties, with mixed-use properties next occupying 22 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Lnr Partners owned at least two commercial properties in New York City with 67,428 square feet and a city-determined market value of $48.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 78 percent of the 67,428 square feet of built space are retail properties, with mixed-use properties next occupying 22 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.

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