I-Sales Recap: UWS Synagogue Site Sells for $25M

Developer Landsea Holdings paid $24.5 million last week to Congregation Shaare Zedek, more than one year after construction wrapped on the synagogue and apartment building they partnered to build on the Upper West Side.

The previous synagogue at the site, 212 West 93rd Street, was demolished despite a push by activists to save it. The new building, now home to the congregation, has 20 apartments and one commercial unit across 14 floors and a gross floor area of 61,000 square feet.

The transaction was one of nine investment sales last week between $10 million and $40 million. The rest are below, ranked by price.

A buyer traced back to Scott Shnay of SK Development purchased a 38-unit mixed-use building at 930 First Avenue in Midtown East for $34.5 million. The buyer took out a $21.3 million mortgage from Metropolitan Commercial Bank for the deal with an entity tied to Eurobuilding Hotels Group, a family-owned operation with five-star hotels in Latin America. The property has two commercial units.
The Housing Partnership Development Corporation bought the site of an affordable housing project at 748 East 241st Street in the Wakefield section of the Bronx for $22.4 million. The seller, Enclave Equities, says on its website that the property was purchased out of bankruptcy and that the development will be 10 stories, 150 apartments and 20,000 square feet of retail. The site was accepted in 2015 into the state’s Brownfield Cleanup Program.
A four-story office building at 453 West 17th Street in the Meatpacking District changed hands for $17.5 million. The building has 13 units and 17,000 square feet. The seller was The N.E.W. Corporation. The buyer, which took out a $10.9 million mortgage from Bank of America, is the Network Capital Funding Corporation in Miami.
A pair of neighboring mixed-use buildings in Chelsea sold for $15 million. Located at 224 and 228 Eighth Avenue, they have six floors each and a combined 55 apartments, four commercial units and 31,000 square feet. The seller was the 224 Eighth Avenue Corporation. The buyer, Saget Group, was sued by the city in February in Mayor Eric Adams’ crackdown on illegal smoke shops in the East Village.
In a deal helped along by retail magnate Jeff Sutton, three neighboring industrial buildings in Gravesend swapped hands for $13.8 million. Matthew Percia was the seller of the Brooklyn properties at 1905, 1911 and 1915 McDonald Avenue. The buyer was the Jewish day school Magen David Yeshivah, which PincusCo first reported plans to build a high school on the three lots.
The building that’s home to legendary Seaport District brasserie The Paris Cafe sold for $11.4 million. The seller, Emilio Barletta, took over the cafe after the previous owner planned to shut it down following pandemic-related hardships. The buyer was Candor Capital. Plans for the nearly 150-year-old cafe are unclear. The building includes 16 residential units and is 14,000 square feet.
Two neighboring apartment buildings in the East Village sold for $10.8 million. They are five floors each and combine for 18 residential units, two commercial units and 13,000 square feet. The seller’s address traces back to Provident Management. The buyer was Lockhill Properties, which took out a $2.6 million mortgage from First Horizon Bank. The assignment of leases and rents totaled $7.3 million.
A Flushing apartment building changed hands for $10.3 million. It has 11 apartments, one commercial unit and 19,000 square feet across four floors. The seller, Lian Feng International, acquired the Queens property in 2017 for $2.7 million. The buyer was Rika Mason Real Estate Group, which lists the address of a single-family home in Great Neck.