Grubb Properties Picks Up FiDi Site For $89M, Plans 50-Story Tower

North Carolina-based Grubb Properties purchased its second New York City site this week. 

The workforce housing developer, which is new to the New York City market, paid Pink Stone Capital, led by Richard Ohebshalom, $89M for an 11K SF vacant lot at 111 Washington St., also known as 8 Carlisle St., property records show.

Grubb is planning to build a 50-story, 400-unit residential tower at the site in partnership with the seller, the company announced in a release. Pink Stone no longer has an ownership stake in the property, according to a spokesperson for Grubb Properties, who declined to give any further details about the partnership.

"Few places have been more impacted by the housing crisis in this country than the New York metropolitan area,” Grubb Properties CEO Clay Grubb said in a statement. “Our company is dedicated to providing quality rental options for those in the middle of the income spectrum." 

Grubb is branding this apartment building — along with the one it plans to build on a Long Island City property it bought this week — as Link Apartments, a national collection of apartment buildings reserved for renters who make between 60% and 140% of their area median income. It plans to apply for tax credits through the Affordable New York program. 

Pink Stone Capital bought the site near the World Trade Center in 2011 for $58M and planned a 429-unit project. After securing air rights for the development, Pink Stone put the property up for sale in 2015, the New York Daily News reported, asking for $170M. 

Last August, Pink Stone put the site back on the market after securing $87M to refinance it, part of which was used to buy out Empire Management, owned by Fred Ohebshalom, the father of Pink Stone's leader, The Real Deal reported.

The two Ohebshaloms had been embroiled in a legal battle after the younger Ohebshalom sued his father twice in 2017. Richard claimed Fred had “siphoned significant assets” from an eight-property trust that was opened when Richard was 22, per TRD. The pair were also at odds over how much the 111 Washington property should sell for, and the younger Ohebshalom hoped to prevent his father from selling at a price he deemed far too little at the time: $148M. 

Pink Stone and Cushman & Wakefield, which marketed the property in 2015, didn't immediately respond to Bisnow’s requests for comment.