Architect Robert A.M. Stern and Jared Kaliner, Justin Kaliner and Robert Kaliner of RoundSquare Builders (Getty, Roundsquare Builders)
RoundSquare Builders are working on their next spec house with Robert A.M. Stern’s architecture firm.
The developer bought 107 Bank Street for $9.3 million on Thursday with financing from Maxim Capital Group, said Rob Kaliner, president of RoundSquare.
The off-market deal came together in 10 days. The sellers were looking to move to another townhouse in Brooklyn and needed to close by the end of September. Leslie J. Garfield’s Matthew Lesser and Matthew Pravda brokered the transaction.
Maxim founder Adam Glick said the unique circumstances brought his company — an opportunistic special situations lender typically focused on the commercial deals — to the deal.
“We were able to step up to the plate for them,” he said. “This is the first transaction that we’ve done together. It’s the start of many”
The landmarked 4,190-square-foot home is configured as a two-family home. With RAMSA, Kaliner said, his firm will be submitting plans to the Building Department in coming weeks to transform it into a luxury mansion for one family.
The market for townhouses has been fast and furious. More luxury townhouses asking $4 million or more have found buyers than any other year on record, according to Olshan Realty, which has been tracking the market since 2010.
But converting multifamily buildings into luxury homes is not a simple process. Kushner Companies’ strategy to convert rentals into luxe single-family mansions in Park Slope recently ended in disappointment in part due to the market’s response to the conversions.
RoundSquare has experience with Manhattan spec homes. In 2016, the developer converted an eight-unit townhouse at 146 Waverly Street into a single-family manse and the company is wrapping up another spec home on West 13th Street.
Kaliner said he expects his firm’s redevelopment to take about two and a half years.
“Our plan if the market continues is probably to sell in the high 20s, low 30s [in millions],” he said referring to buyers’ preferences for a turnkey home. “They just want to go in and bring their toothbrush.”
Put another way, RoundSquare paid about $2,220 per square foot for the property and is aiming to sell the redeveloped home for around $7,160 a foot.
Kaliner said he believes his architect will also help the property fetch top dollar. He’s already got an autographed copy of Stern’s monograph “Houses” ready for the eventual buyer.
“As soon as we signed the contract, I went out and bought that book,” he said.
