Mermelstein scores Queens dev site and art gallery buys in Chelsea

David Zwirner scores property backing up to new headquarters

Uri Mermelstein and 151-11 Sixth Road in Queens (Getty, LoopNet, Google Maps)
Uri Mermelstein and 151-11 Sixth Road in Queens (Getty, LoopNet, Google Maps)

As a cold front froze New York City for two days last week, mid-market investment sales were in hibernation.

Only two transactions involving commercial properties valued between $10 million and $40 million hit city records last week. The deals were recorded in Manhattan and Queens.

Below is more information on each sale, ranked by dollar amount.

1. An entity connected to Uri Mermelstein bought a development site at 151-11 Sixth Road and 151-17 Powells Cove Boulevard in Whitestone for $12.1 million from Donna-Marie Korth. Property records indicate the deed type as “not warranty or bargain and sale.”

The development site, known as the Whitestone Assemblage, spans almost 200,000 square feet, according to a listing. Part of the assemblage was previously owned by an entity tied to Sullivan County–based bus company Rolling V Transportation Services, public records show.

Mermelstein founded Top Rock holdings with Joseph Yushuvayev. Last year the Midtown-based firm bought the office portion of 609 Fifth Avenue from SL Green for about $100 million.

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Top Rock and partner RJ Capital Holdings planned to bring on a luxury brand to build condos with the goal of attracting wealthy buyers to the Fifth Avenue building. Its plans for the entirely different property in Whitestone could not be ascertained Monday.

2. An entity tied to the David Zwirner Art Gallery acquired a property at 527 West 19th Street in Chelsea that houses one of its galleries.

The buyer paid $11.7 million to an entity connected to Miami-based Bishopscourt Group. The property, which consists of three buildings spanning 13,800 square feet, was last sold in August for an undisclosed amount.

The gallery operation, a fixture in the New York art world, last year signed a 36,000-square-foot lease with Elijah Equities at 520 West 20th Street. The building is back-to-back with the property Swirner just bought.

Zwirner’s new headquarters was to occupy part of the West 20th Street building’s ground floor and the entire second and third floors — all for offices, not for gallery space or retail.