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A development site in the Rockaways that played a key role in the sprawling bribery case against former Buildings Department Commissioner Eric Ulrich is in new hands.
The site, a block-through parcel at 157 Beach 115 St., has been sold by developer the Marcal Group for $14.4 million, according to the city register.
Marcal founder and Chief Executive Mark Caller stands accused of bribing Ulrich to help develop the 32,000-square-foot site near the Atlantic Ocean, including allegedly trying to clear out a homeless shelter next door.
Caller, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, paid $2.2 million in 2018 for the site, which extends through to Beach 116 Street, and so appears to have realized a notable profit.
The buyer of No. 157 is Menachem Chazanow, the chief executive of Diamond National Investments, an eight-year-old Atlanta-based firm that has so far mostly developed apartment buildings in the South, according to Diamond’s website. Chazanow closed Feb. 29, the register says; the deed appeared Thursday.
An email sent to Chazanow was not returned by press time. And a phone message left with the Marcal Group also went unreturned.
But in an emailed statement, Caller’s attorney, Benjamin Brafman, said “the sale has absolutely nothing to do with the pending case,” adding that “Caller has a strong defense and fully expects to be acquitted.”
In September Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg unveiled a sweeping indictment against Ulrich, Caller and five others, accusing them of participating in a long-running scheme to trade money, apartments and even art for favors from the Buildings Department and other city officials.
Ulrich, a Republican former City Council member from Queens who was named to the Buildings post by Mayor Eric Adams, faces a total of 16 felony counts in the case. He has pleaded not guilty.
For his part, Caller stands accused of seeking a quick rezoning for No. 157, which used to contain a decrepit theater, so he could put up an 8-story building on the property before the 421-a affordable housing tax abatement expired in summer 2022.
Bragg has also accused Caller of conspiring with Ulrich to push for city inspections of the next-door shelter with the apparent aim of having it shut down, which would have likely boosted the value of Caller’s site.
In return, Caller allegedly offered Ulrich a two-bedroom apartment with water views at 147 Beach 116 St., a luxury project Marcal developed across the street, though Brafman claims Ulrich paid a market-rate rent for the unit.
Caller has also been a major donor to Adams, raising nearly $50,000 for the mayor for his last campaign. Though Adams is mentioned throughout the indictment, Bragg has not specifically accused him of any wrongdoing in the case.
Caller is due back in New York Supreme Criminal Court in Manhattan on May 8.
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C. J. Hughes , 2024-04-05 19:48:06
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