West side development site sold for $6.79 million in foreclosure auction
612-618 West 47th Street, PropertyShark
By Roland Li
A development site at 612-618 West 47th Street has been sold for $6.79 million in a foreclosure auction, according to city records.
According to a listing by Massey Knakal, the the site is zoned to allow 19,750 buildable s/f, and a planned Hell’s Kitchen rezoning could bring the site to 49,375 buildable s/f.
The buyer was 618 West 47th Street LLC. Attorney John St. Jeanos of Herrick Feinstein LLP, who represented the buyer, declined to comment.
The listing brokers were Massey Knakal’s Robert Knakal, Christoffer Brodhead, Jonathan Hageman and Matthew Abreu.
“The zoning over there is very archaic,” said Knakal, but added that changes could allow for additional uses beyond the existing light manufacturing buildings. “I think residential is viable.”
He noted that the transaction – which closed at $344 per buildable s/f – was in line with a relatively resilient investment sales market for parcels. Although the number of such sales dropped from nearly 200 in 2006 to just 11 in 2009, Knakal said that prices remained around $300 per buildable s/f, throughout the downturn.
Now, with credit loosening and low inventory, interest has increased.
“The number of transactions is picking up significantly,” he said. Knakal recently sold a parcel at 356 Tenth Avenue to Sherwood Equities for over $42 million.
Knakal said the buyer of 612-618 West 47th Street was a developer, but declined to comment further.
According to PropertyShark, a 4,511 s/f garage currently occupies the site, between 11th Avenue and the West Side Highway. The plantiff in the foreclosure suit was Coronation International Ltd. 612-618 West 47th Street Partners LLC, which purchased the property for $3 million from 612 W 47 LLC and took a $3.75 million mortgage, according to city records.
Attorney Roberta Ashkin was appointed by the lenders as referee and oversaw the foreclosure auction.
“It’s an area for which there’s been a lot of interest in terms of gentrification and redevelopment,” said Ashkin. “There were a lot of bidders interested in this particular property.”
