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Big Building on Skillman Avenue Sells for $22.5 Million

The storefronts on the recently-sold lot on Skillman Ave. (Google Maps)

Feb. 1, 2018 By Nathaly Pesantez

A lot on Skillman Avenue made up of six stores and a 67-unit apartment building has recently sold for a staggering $22.5 million, building records show.

The mixed-use lot, with an address of 41-06 50th St., was sold on Jan. 10 to Meri Triades Pasztor of Freedom Crossing LLC.

Andreas Andreadis, the former owner, bought the lot in 1999, records show.

The six-story apartment building on 41-06 50th St. (Google Maps)

The lot, with a gross floor area of roughly 58,000 square feet, includes businesses like Aubergine, Skillman Shoe Repair, Olympic City Real Estate, and Skillman Pets.

Abdel Rios, owner of Skillman Pets, said news of the sale initially worried him. “We didn’t know what was going to happen,” he said. “We were concerned that the new landlord was going to price us out.”

But rent on the pet store, which opened in 2010, was only raised by a couple percentage points, translating to a couple hundred dollars. “It wasn’t as bad as I thought,” he said. “It looks like we will be able to stay in business.”

The entire lot, outlined in red. (Google Maps)

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28 Comments

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Bill

It would be naive for all of the tenants to think the rents will stay reasonable. Unfortunately no one pays 22.5 million for a building and then is generous with favorable commercial or residential lease terms. They are salivating at renting those commercial spaces to starbucks, banks, chains, subway etc. The only people who benefit from these deals are the developers/ purchasers- 99% of the time it doesn’t add a single positive benefit to the neighborhood.

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Life

The south strip on Skillman in between 51st and 50th Street (The Kettle, Key Foods, Côté Soleil etc…) will be on sale as well.

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Anonymous

they can’t knock down the building at all there are tenants there and they have leases and by law the landlord has to renew their leases or else this owner will be in so much trouble for sure –

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I for one welcome...

They can’t kick out tenants during the term of their existing leases (absent cause under the lease agreement, I guess)–but I don’t know that they are actually required to renew. I would think that at the least the new owner could decide to greatly raise the rent when current lease terms expire, effectively forcing them out, though from the article it doesn’t sound like the owner is looking to do that at this time.

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Anonymous

by law they have a right to give the tenant an option to renew their lease – that is the law – and they can only raise it a certain percentage according to the rent guideline law —

Sunnyside_Lady

That’s only if htey are rent-stabilized or rent-controlled. Otherwise there are no such protections.

Patricia Dorfman

Mom & pops and reasonable rent are there now. But this appears to be organic gentrification, not a sinister plot. Neighborhoods change. If the local mom & pops can survive, maybe a new building will bring in more customers for them. But to make money when developed, one would assume pricier units and higher rent for the ground floor which elsewhere has meant chain stores.
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If as a community we can

1. Keep a BID from going in on Skillman
2. Ask Community Board 2 not to allow a height variance
3. Ask future developer to include indoor parking
4. Ask the City Council to get a bill passed like the Small Business Jobs Survival Act, (SBJSA), which died with the last Council term, though signed by a majority of the Council, including our Councilman, the ride might be less bumpy from here on out.
______

Corey Johnson, the new NYC Council Speaker is tackling the scandal of small business closings, which is laudable.
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The big real estate lobby (REBNY) has enormous financial and political clout. They have played long, brilliant game which has resulted in a city of dwindling sky and exploding luxury housing. We have seen rezoning and other laws like MIH and 421-A, but not enough planning for mom & pops, the middle or low or no income. The city’s infrastructure is not sufficient or planned for even for the new residents (see Pre-K Woodside story).
________
SBJSA or similar bill would have overnight stop speculation, warehousing, and closings of mom & pops and thus also slow down the displacement of residents, as cost of living goes up. To possibly put a stake in the heart of SBJSA-type bills, the measure floated now is possibly one that is palatable for REBNY, which means it won’t really harm big developers. But it won’t help much either. We thank our Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer who bravely promised to work on SBJSA and hope he can help with a new bill, if it is actually helpful.
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THREE ITEMS: the characteristics of a bill which would save some of the city for those who are not billionaires, has these three characteristics, as mentioned this week by attorney Robert Barrison on behalf of the SBJSA originator Sung Koo Kim:
NEEDED:
1. Right of tenant to renewal commercial lease
2. Apply to all commercial leases
3. Give right to longer-term leases

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rikki

Time to legally raise the rent 50%, new luxury entrances new hi tech 4K cameras (to catch any criminals) video security system for each apartment new backyard luxury playground for the kids new luxury washer dryers in basement new luxury gym, all passable MCI increases

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Kelly M

The apartments in this building are nice size. I lived there in the 80’s before I bought my apartment in the Berkley Towers.

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Happy@Berkeley

What’s wrong with Berkeley Towers??? …
Excellent location
Excellent maintenance
Excellent maintained finances
Excellent size apartments (I have 2bedroom 2bath balcony)
People are decent and nice overall
Price of my apartment more than doubled in the last 10 years
Has a Doorman which is a necessity in today’s online ordering…
Good Parking (but takes 10years to get a spot …lol)
Sooooo what’s not to like????
From my research there isn’t a better building anywhere in the area….

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Steve Feit

That’s where I was brought home to when I was born in March 1935.
Shortly afterward, the family moved to 43-07 42nd St where we lived for the next 20 years.

Back in 1935, my sister was about to enroll in kindergarten at PS-11. At the time, PS-11 was a rickety wooden building located on the same site as today’s PS-11. My parents were concerned that the school was a fire trap so we moved down to 42nd St. so my sister could go to PS-150.

So much for family history.

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A.Bundy

Dont the Berkley Towers have a 25% flip tax? on top of the a capital gains tax…yikes! the apartments were really nice when i went for open houses, but at the end of the day, when i’m fed up living in this city, i’d like to see my investment pay off so i could buy a nicer home.

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Happy@Berkeley

unless you move out of NYC… Otherwise your not going to find a better place and area this close to Manhattan (especailly now since all prices doubled in the last 10 years)… so the 20%flip tax keeps the flippers out and keeps maintenance fee’s low… I plan on keeping the place basically for ever…lol… seriously…

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Happy@Berkeley

P.s. … also depends on what tax bracket you are for capital gain taxes… the low upto 15% tax bracket pay no capital gain taxes on long term investments… first $250,000 capital gains is tax free no matter what tax bracket… or $500,000 for married filing jointly… but again… unless you move out of NYC… there’s no reason to live else where in the city… I researched for years before buying here and you couldn’t find a better area no matter what anyways…

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Anonymous

All foreign money is buying up everything – a disgrace – wait and see what will happen –

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Happy@Berkeley

unless you plan on living in NYC for short term of just a few years…. it’s always better to buy your place than rent… I saw this right from the start when I moved to NYC and bought as soon as we could… sorry but can’t feel bad for renters… I welcome gentrification to the area very much so and so would of anyone that owns there home…

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A.Bundy

ROFL! there are many procrastinators out there. its hard to find a decent place with good neighbors, fair maintenance fees, and good management. then you have to find a good real estate lawyer that knows the area. i spent years looking and getting outbid hundreds of times. and i gave up numerous times looking for a co-op, until i found one that was a fixer upper that wasnt advertised, so there was no bidding war.

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K2

Wait a sec… You want open borders but you don’t want folks who come here to invest in the community?

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Happy@Berkeley

would of been a nightmare if Hillary was in office… you would of been pushed right out by now… I make most of my living from rich foreign money that keeps buying these multi-million dollar places… so I welcome them with open arms…

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