4th Avenue Flips Out Again (In A Real Estate Way)

A block-long development on 4th Avenue between 15th and 16th Streets has been sold to new developers. Slate Property Group and Adam America Real Estate bought the property last week for over $25 million, according to The Real Deal.

The property was “flipped” by developers Aaron Karpen and Anshel Friedman, who purchased the parcel in 2014 for $16.5 million. Official plans had already been filed for the building in September 2015. While not confirmed, it’s likely the previous developers walked away with somewhere in the vicinity of $8 million.

The 541-555 4th Avenue development is made up of eight contiguous buildings. The Real Deal reports that the new developers plan for a larger building — and doing so by “incorporating an inclusionary housing component.”

The new plan is for the rental property of 120,000-square-foot with 130 units. Ground-floor retail will also be part of the building. Karpen and Friedman’s original plan was for a 12-story, 125-unit,100,000-square-foot building.

Slate and Adam America have already been involved in a 4th Avenue property flip — but on the other end. In October 2015, they sold 275 4th Avenue to Vanke, a Chinese developer.

The new developers are currently embroiled in a controversy after purchasing Rivington House on the Lower East Side in partnership with a familiar name — Vanke. According to The Real Deal, “The city and state are investigating the deal amid charges that Allure deceived the city by promising it would maintain the property as nursing home despite being in contract to sell it to developers.”

And while there are other developers working on 4th Avenue properties embroiled in controversy, Haysha Deitsch has a very different history. In 2014, the Deitsch threatened to evict the elderly because of “financial hardship,” created “deplorable living conditions,” raised the ire of local and citywide politicians, and at one point refused to turn on the air conditioning for the residents. Deitsch intended to empty the building of residents so that he could sell it for $76 million to Sugar Hill Capital Partners. He bought the building in 2006 for $40 million.

The “pet-spa” luxury rental planned at 243-245 4th Avenue (between President and Carroll Streets) is helmed by the controversial developer.