News

A 58-unit, 12-story elevator apartment building at 200 East 11th Street, located on the corner of East 11th Street and Third Avenue in Manhattan’s East Village, was sold in an all-cash transaction valued at $57,000,000.  The building contains 55 free market units and three ground floor retail units.

The 12-story elevator building currently stretches 105.5’ along East 11th Street and 129’ along Third Avenue. The apartments above are almost all oversized one bedroom units.  All apartments have ample light and air as a result of the building being set back on all sides and being located on a corner.  Currently, the retail is occupied by M2M, a grocery store, The Smith, a popular downtown restaurant and bar, and a copy shop.  All retail spaces have useable lower levels.  Since the building was built the area has been up zoned, meaning that there is potential to expand the ground floor retail and potentially expand the residential above.

The property was purchased by Jordan Vogel & Aaron Feldman, principals of Benchmark Real Estate Group, LLC a full service real estate company focused on acquiring and improving multifamily properties in New York City. Benchmark's in-house property management division improves assets through their hands-on technique, leasing, and construction, resulting in superior management efficiencies.

"When we began marketing, we weren’t sure if the building would stay rental or go condo. There is great potential for both. Rarely does a property come up that is all fair market with so much upside. Ultimately, Benchmark, which has a proven track record of improving rental buildings, will benefit by expanding the retail and upgrading the quality of the apartments above,” said Massey Knakal’s James P. Nelson, who handled this transaction along with Mitchell Levine and Matthew Nickerson. Century Realty Investors also advised the seller on the transaction. The property was sold by 200 Eleventh Associates.

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Neighborhoods: East Village

Massey Knakal Realty Services has been retained on an exclusive basis to sell a development site at 11 Park Avenue. The property is located between East 34th and East 35th Streets in Manhattan’s Murray Hill neighborhood.  The asking price is $55,000,000.

The site currently consists of an eight-story parking facility that contains approximately 35,305 square feet and 150 legal parking spaces on a 40’ x 100’ lot.  The garage is NNN leased and can be vacated with 180 days’ notice, representing a rare Park Avenue development opportunity in the most stately and historic portion of Murray Hill.  This property is zoned C5-3, which allows for 15.0 FAR for commercial use and 10.0 FAR for residential use as-of-right, or approximately 63,195 square feet and 42,130 square feet, respectively.  It is eligible for an Inclusionary Housing Bonus, which would allow for 12.0 FAR and 50,556 square feet for residential use if utilized.  This flexibility provides prospective developers the option to deliver a great single or mixed-use project with a highly coveted curb cut.

New York City continues to set new tourism records, creating hotel development opportunities all over Midtown Manhattan.  Also, with Midtown South and Murray Hill becoming more popular residential destinations, residential condominium sales in the area are reaching new heights.  This property offers prospective investors the opportunity to build either, or both, along one of New York City’s most famous boulevards.

This property is being marketed exclusively by Massey Knakal’s Bob Knakal and John Ciraulo.

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Neighborhoods: Murray Hill/ Agents: John Ciraulo

A residential development site at 2065 Walton Avenue, located between East Burnside Avenue and West 181st Street in the Morris Heights neighborhood of the Bronx, was sold in an all-cash transaction valued at $1,150,000.

The site contains approximately 7,643 square feet on a 75.17’ x 100.95’ lot.  Zoned R8, it allows for the construction of approximately 46,011 square feet of residential space, and the sale price equates to approximately $25 per buildable square foot.

This site is conveniently located near the 4 subway line at East Burnside and Jerome Avenues.  It is within minutes of High Bridge, New York City’s oldest standing bridge.  New York City recently began a restoration of this pedestrian crossing between Highbridge and Washington Heights in Upper Manhattan.  The property is in proximity to Yankee Stadium as well.

“The property sold to a supportive housing developer,” said Massey Knakal’s David Simone, who exclusively handled this transaction.  “It is in an ideal location near public transportation and Burnside Avenue, a major retail shopping corridor,” he added.

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Neighborhoods: Morris Heights

Massey Knakal Realty Services has been retained on an exclusive basis to sell a mixed-use building at 98 Rivington Street (aka 133 Ludlow Street). The property is located on the corner of Ludlow and Rivington Streets on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The asking price is $12,000,000.

The three-story building contains approximately 4,275 above grade square feet on a 25’ x 66’ lot, with one commercial and four residential units.  The commercial tenant, a wine bar and restaurant, occupies the ground floor as well as the usable basement, with seating for diners and a full kitchen.  The upper floors consist of four free market apartments and the residential tenants benefit from a large common roof deck.  Furthermore, the property can take an additional two floors.  Located on a prime Lower East Side corner, this property is perfect for a residential user as the upper floors can be delivered vacant.

“The offering presents an opportunity for both investors and end-users. Considering a portion of the building can be delivered vacant, we anticipate significant interest from groups looking to live or work in a portion of the space. In addition, the subject is located at the corner of Rivington and Ludlow Streets – one of the most sought after intersections on the Lower East Side,” said Massey Knakal’s Michael DeCheser, who is exclusively marketing this space.

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Neighborhoods: Lower East Side/ Agents: Michael DeCheser

Massey Knakal Retail Leasing Services has secured a retail lease at 211 Front Street, located on the corner of Beekman and Front Streets in Manhattan’s South Street Seaport District.

The space contains approximately 850 square feet on the ground floor with ceilings 12 feet high.  This corner location benefits from approximately 60 feet of dramatic wraparound frontage and floor to ceiling windows.  The space will be occupied by Emily Thompson Flowers, a high-end floral arrangements designer.

This site is ideally located on revitalized historic Front Street in the South Street Seaport neighborhood just one block from the main shopping district on Fulton Street and the Pier 17 development site.  Neighboring tenants include Fresh Salt Restaurant, Aria Seaport, Jeremy’s Ale House, Suteishi, Abercrombie & Fitch, Super Dry, and J. Crew.

“This is a ‘win win win’ for property owner, tenant, and neighborhood,” said Massey Knakal’s Will Suarez, who exclusively represented the landlord in this transaction.  “With an abundance of restaurants, bars, and cafes in the immediate vicinity, a floral design business will create a nice balance of retailer options for residents and patrons alike.  Both the owners and tenant are thrilled with this transaction,” he continued.

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Neighborhoods: Financial District/ Agents: Guillermo Suarez

Massey Knakal Realty Services has been retained on an exclusive basis to sell a townhouse at 133 East 65th Street. The property is located between Park and Lexington Avenues in Manhattan’s Upper East Side neighborhood. The asking price is $13,495,000.

The five-story building contains approximately 6,552 square feet on a 20’ x 100.42’ lot, with one commercial and four residential units.  The ground and first floors contain approximately 3,424 square feet and are occupied The East Pole Restaurant.  The remaining floors consist of four free market apartments combining for approximately 3,129 square feet, with the possibility of adding an additional floor.  

This townhouse, located on a sought-after Upper East Side block, presents the opportunity for a buyer to create a triplex, while also earning additional income from the property.

This property is being marketed exclusively by Massey Knakal’s Guthrie Garvin.

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Neighborhoods: Upper East Side

Massey Knakal Capital Services is pleased to announce the closing of four loans totaling $5.0 million collateralized by five buildings consisting of 42 units in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood.  The loans featured a 7-year fixed-rate at 3.75%.

"We structured four separate loans to give the client maximum flexibility to dispose of individual properties during the loan term,” said Massey Knakal’s Roger Kapsalis, who exclusively handled this transaction. “In addition, we provided a cash-out refinance that was tax efficient to the Borrower,” added Mr. Kapsalis.
 
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Neighborhoods: Williamsburg

Massey Knakal Realty Services has been retained on an exclusive basis to sell an apartment building at 42-72 80th Street. The property is located on the corner of 45th Avenue and 80th Street in the Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens. The asking price is $21,500,000.

The six-story elevator-serviced building contains approximately 89,000 square feet and sits on a 234’ x 105’ lot.  It consists of 103 residential units, of which 95 are free market and eight are rent stabilized, and 21 indoor parking spaces.  The building contains 18 studios, 42 one-bedroom apartments, and 43 two-bedroom apartments.  Six of the units feature terraces/outdoor space.  This property is ideal for condominium conversion.

The building is conveniently located just a few blocks from the M and R subway lines on Broadway, and in close proximity to various bus routes and major roads and highways.  This is a rare opportunity for an investor to own one of the largest apartment buildings in a desirable area of Queens.

This property is being marketed exclusively by Massey Knakal’s Thomas A. Donovan.

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Neighborhoods: Elmhurst

By: Andrew Posil, Director of Sales, Hospitality

While the national and New York metro lodging markets boast strong metrics, boutique hotels, as a subset, are outperforming their branded brethren. Despite the relatively new product’s outstanding performance, defining and classifying what constitutes a boutique hotel remains a challenge.

A 37 condominium unit package situated within 358 Grove Street, located between Irving and Wyckoff Avenues in Brooklyn’s North Bushwick neighborhood, was sold in an all-cash transaction valued at $10,750,000.
                                                               
The package consists of 35 residential and two commercial condos. The residential condos total approximately 25,477 square feet and are currently occupied as free market rental units.  The commercial units, which total approximately 7,850 square feet, are designated community facility units and are currently occupied by nonprofit organizations.  Additionally, there are 40 parking spaces and eight rooftop cabanas included in the offering.  The condos and saleable amenities account for, in aggregate, approximately 65% of common interest. The 37 units combine for approximately 33,327 square feet, with the sale price equating to approximately $323 per square foot.

This package allows the investor to acquire considerable scale and neighborhood exposure, with substantial income in place and significant selloff potential down the line.  The building is located just three blocks from the J and M trains at Myrtle and Wyckoff Avenue, providing access to lower Manhattan within 30 minutes.

“The purchasers plan on repositioning and adding value to a number of the apartments and will look to hold the asset as a rental in this rapidly appreciating neighborhood,” said Massey Knakal’s Michael Amirkhanian, who exclusively handled this transaction.

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Neighborhoods: Bushwick

Massey Knakal Realty Services has been retained on an exclusive basis to sell a commercial building at 48 Allen Street (aka 49 Orchard Street). The property is located block through from Allen Street to Orchard Street, between Grand and Hester Streets, in Manhattan’s Chinatown / Lower East Side neighborhood. The asking price is $15,000,000.

The six-story elevator building contains approximately 15,334 gross square feet which includes a 2,200 square foot usable lower level, and sits on a 25.25’ x 88.83’ lot.  The lower level contains offices and restrooms and floors one through six consist of offices, an assembly area, a library, reading room, living quarters, dining rooms, restrooms, and living rooms.  The living quarters on the upper floor serve as guest rooms for visiting members and provide lodging for up to 50 people.  The building will be delivered vacant and is ideal for an end user interested in occupying all or a portion of the building.  Located in a C6-2 zone, commercial use such as a hotel would be permitted.  Alternatively, the building could be converted to residential use such as rental or condominium units.

“Considering the subject will be delivered vacant, we anticipate a significant amount of interest from user groups or developers looking to convert the building to residential or a hotel. It’s incredibly rare to find large, vacant, block-through buildings such as 48 Allen Street,” said Massey Knakal’s Michael DeCheser, who is exclusively marketing this property.

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Neighborhoods: Chinatown, Lower East Side/ Agents: Michael DeCheser

An apartment building at 365 East 21st Street, located between Beverly and Albemarle Roads in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood, was sold in an all-cash transaction valued at $650,000.

The four-story walk-up building contains approximately 6,720 square feet and sits on a 20’ x 120’ lot.  It consists of eight rent stabilized units, and the sale price equates to approximately $97 per square foot.

“The seller was pleased with this all-cash transaction at a 6.35% cap rate,” said Massey Knakal’s Nick Mahedy, who exclusively handled this transaction with Guthrie Garvin.

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Neighborhoods: Flatlands

A development site at 542 West 153rd Street, located between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan’s exclusive Sugar Hill neighborhood, was sold in an all-cash transaction valued at $3,600,000.

The site contains approximately 29,976 buildable square feet on a 100' x 99.92' lot.  It was recently rezoned to R6A which allows for 3.0 FAR as-of-right.  The sale price equates to approximately $120 per buildable square foot.

Conveniently located near the burgeoning Broadway and Amsterdam retail corridors, this multifamily development is primed to take advantage of the increased rental demand and developing condominium market in the neighborhood.  It is close to neighborhood anchors such as The City College of New York, Columbia University, and Riverbank and St. Nicholas Parks.  Public transportation is easily accessible via the 1 train stops at Broadway and 145th or 157th Streets and the A, B, C, and D train stop at St. Nicholas Avenue and West 145th Street.

“Investor appetite for developable land in Northern Manhattan has really taken off.  This transaction drew so much attention we had multiple bidders at the asking price in a few weeks ultimately selling for $100,000 more than we were asking,” said Massey Knakal’s Robert M. Shapiro, who exclusively handled this transaction with Josh Lipton.  “This transaction reflects a growing trend in Northern Manhattan of increasing prices per buildable square foot for well-located development sites and increasing demand from experienced developers who are becoming more excited about the area,” added Josh Lipton. 

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Agents: Robert Shapiro

In the latest installment of the Knakal News Network, Bob Knakal and Jonathan Hageman, Sales Team Manager, discuss positive thinking.


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A development site at 271 Lenox Road, located between Nostrand and Rogers Avenues in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood, was sold in an all-cash transaction valued at $1,590,000.
 
This approximately 50’ x 200’ lot allows for a new building of approximately 34,400 square feet.  There are approved plans in place and a 421a tax abatement is as of right.  The sale price equates to approximately $46 per buildable square foot.

The property is conveniently located two blocks from the Winthrop Street stop on the 2 and 5 subway lines, one block from Kings County Hospital and SUNY Downstate Medical Center, and six blocks from Prospect Park.  The busy retail strip of Church Avenue is just three blocks away.

“The purchaser has approved plans to construct a 15-story elevatored building consisting of 56 two-bedroom condos with private terraces, 32 parking spaces, and a private gym,” said Massey Knakal’s Michael Amirkhanian, who exclusively handled this transaction with Nick Mahedy.

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Neighborhoods: Flatbush

Massey Knakal Realty Services has been retained on an exclusive basis to sell a retail condominium situated in a mixed-use building at 1400 Fifth Avenue. The property is located on the corner of Fifth Avenue and West 116th Street in Manhattan’s Harlem neighborhood. The asking price is $15,000,000.

The nine-unit condominium contains approximately 15,254 square feet on the ground floor with an additional 15,553 square feet of cellar space.  It benefits from approximately 384 feet of frontage on two corridors with heavy vehicular and pedestrian traffic.  The condominium features a credit rated tenant as the anchor complimented by neighborhood retail, providing a national and local tenant mix.

The property is conveniently located on the same block as the 2 and 3 subway stop at 116th Street and within blocks of both Central Park and Marcus Garvey Park.  It is at the center of the 116th Street corridor, a retail strip that has seen investment and development in both retail and residential over the past ten years.  

“We strongly believe that as the neighborhood continues its resurgence, this investment provides a unique opportunity for tremendous upside both in the near future and the long-term,” said Massey Knakal’s Lev Kimyagarov, who is exclusively marketing this property.

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Neighborhoods: Harlem

Massey Knakal Retail Leasing Services has secured a new retail tenant for 154 Bleecker Street, located between Thompson Street and LaGuardia Place in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village neighborhood.

This fully-vented, built-out restaurant space contains approximately 1,605 square feet on the ground floor with ten foot high ceilings.  It benefits from an additional 672 square feet of basement space and 25 feet of frontage in an area with continuously increasing foot traffic.  The space will be occupied by the frozen yogurt chain Frozen Peaks.

“This is a great space for this tenant, which has a unique business model in the frozen yogurt field. We wish them all the best in this location,” said Massey Knakal’s Brendan Gotch, who exclusively represented the landlord in this transaction. This space is just one block from NYU’s proposed 2 million square foot expansion.  Neighboring tenants include Capital One Bank, Duane Reade, The Bitter End, CVS, and Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.

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Neighborhoods: Greenwich Village

On December 17, Bob Knakal will speak at the Foundation for Accounting Education 2013 Real Estate Conference.  The event, "How To Adapt and Succeed in an Ever-Changing Market" will take place at the Marriott Marquis at Times Square.  The event will feature insight from top industry professions on key trends in real estate, best practices for structuring transactions, the future of the real estate industry, and headline transactions over the past year.

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Massey Knakal Realty Services has been retained on an exclusive basis to sell a commercial/retail building at 4107-4111 Hempstead Turnpike. The property is located between Stewart Avenue and Hicksville Road in the Town of Bethpage, Nassau County. The asking price is $1,150,000.

The single-story building contains approximately 6,025 square feet and sits on a 60’ x 214’ lot.   It includes off-street parking and an enclosed outdoor space in the rear of the property totaling approximately 3,000 square feet.  The property will be delivered vacant and offers an ideal opportunity for an owner-user or investor.  

This property is conveniently located on a busy section of Hempstead Turnpike and in close proximity to national retailers, public transportation, and major roadways.

This property is being marketed exclusively by Massey Knakal’s Thomas A. Donovan and Benjamin Efraimov.

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Neighborhoods: Nassau County

A triple-net-lease has been secured for an entire building at 206 Fifth Avenue (aka 1126 Broadway). The property is located between West 25th and West 26th Streets on Madison Square Park.

This five-story building contains approximately 18,078 rentable square feet and sits on a 28.17’ x 112’ irregular lot, with frontage along both Fifth Avenue and Broadway.  The building currently comprises five floor-through commercial units with an abundance of natural light and stunning views of Madison Square Park.  Each floor has private elevator access and its own tenant controlled air-conditioning package. 

This property is situated in one of Manhattan’s most desirable locations, facing Madison Square Park.  It is conveniently located near newly opened destinations like Eataly, the Italian food market and eatery, and the Ace, NoMad, and Flatiron Hotels. Public transportation is easily accessible with local bus and subway trains only a short walk away.

“Investor demand was at an all-time high for this property given its superb location on Madison Square Park which is bordered by the Flatiron District/Gramercy Park to the South, Chelsea to the West, and NoMad to the North,” said Massey Knakal’s John F. Ciraulo, who exclusively handled this transaction with Craig M. Waggner. “The long-term lessee will look to capitalize on this location’s surge in rents buoyed by the flourishing tech scene which has witnessed the lowest vacancy rate in the country at 6.96%, average office rents hovering around $70 per square foot and average retail rents escalating towards $200 per square foot,” added Waggner.

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Agents: John Ciraulo