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From the New York Times: East Village Condos in a Synagogue

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The New York Times featured an article in December 2015 about a project completed by East River Partners, which is the company I co-founded. ERP developed three condominium apartments in the historic synagogue at 415 East Sixth Street, between First Avenue and Avenue A. Here is a brief summary of that article.

About the Project

 

The same congregation has occupied the East Sixth Street building for more than a century, and the condominium deal allowed the synagogue and its building to survive.

 

As part of the deal, ERP paid $600,000 upfront to the congregation, and will be paying them $20,000 annually for 198 years. ERP is also giving the synagogue a $180,000 “fit-out allowance,” allowing the synagogue to rebuild their place of worship and any office or meeting spaces they require.

 

The deal between ERP and the synagogue allowed the synagogue’s building to breathe new life, despite economic hardships it had recently been facing. East River Partners “were the saviors of this shul,” according to Charles Knapp, pro bono counsel for the congregation.

 

The building’s location is a designated historic district, as of 2012. The Landmarks Preservation Commission made the decision a year after ERP signed on to the project. According to the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, this synagogue is one of the last operating “tenement synagogues” in Manhattan, and the only one left in the East Village.

 

I believed apartments in the historic synagogue would have broad appeal. As I told the New York times, “The buyers will be living in a space that is part of the fabric of this country’s history.”

ERP’s willingness to respect the synagogue’s history is a testament to our company’s integrity.

Property Details

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