Media Mentions

August 2, 2024: The Bridge and Radson Development through the entity 3816 Ninth Avenue Housing Development Fund Co Inc paid $15.8 million to Manhattan Bible Church for the development site at 3816 9th Avenue in Inwood, Manhattan. The expected use is ground up development.
The deal closed on July 30, 2024 and was recorded on August 1, 2024. The property has 19,983 square feet of built space and a total buildable of 144,000 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $790 and the price per buildable square foot is $109 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 Manhattan Bible Church was Harry Jones and Randy Gruenberg. The signatory for The Bridge was Carole Gordon. The contract date was November 17, 2022.
The broker according to the contract was Development Site Advisors.

According to the contract, “the Developer intends to construct a mixed-use building, on the Property estimated to be a zoning floor area of 143,878 square feet which shall be developed as a condominium regime expected to contain three (3) units: (i) one condominium unit consisting of approximately 189 residential rental units under a supportive housing loan program and the ancillary and common elements appurtenant thereto (the “Residential Condominium Unit”); (ii) one condominium unit consisting of approximately 9,515 square feet located at the Property that shall be a gymnasium, gym storage, bathrooms and locker rooms, and circulation space, and ancillary and common elements appurtenant thereto (the “Church Condominium Unit”); and (iii) one community facility for The Bridge of approximately 13,000 square feet (the “Community Facility Unit”).

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer The Bridge had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Manhattan Bible Church had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period.

The property

The specialty building in Inwood has 19,983 square feet of built space and a total buildable of 144,000 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 199 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 19,983 square feet. The zoning is R8A which allows for up to 6.02 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.6 million.

Violations and lawsuits

The property was involved in one court case over the past two years. The case was a $15.8 million case concerning a leave to sell filed on January 11, 2024, by Manhattan Bible Church against Radson Development and The Bridge. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received one DOB violation, $33,810 in ECB penalties, and $37,810 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 Inwood, The bulk, or 43 percent of the 15 million square feet of commercial built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 34 percent of the space. In sales, Inwood has had very little sales volume relative to other neighborhoods with $89.9 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Inwood has 1.4 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 22nd highest in Manhattan. It had 1.5 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 10 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 70 percent of the 132,163 square feet of built space are specialty buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 30 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that The Bridge owned at least 13 commercial properties with 455 residential units in New York City with 331,936 square feet and a city-determined market value of $55.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $185.8 million in debt, with top three lenders as NYS Housing Finance Agency, JPMorgan Chase, and CPC Mortgage Company respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 72 percent of the 331,936 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with N9 properties next occupying 12 percent of the space. The bulk, or 38 percent of the built space, is in Bronx, with Manhattan next at 37 percent of the space.
Correction: An earlier version of this post said the total buildable was about 120,297 square feet, but in fact it is about 144,000 square feet.