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A notorious New York City landlord offloaded one of his properties in Greenwich Village this week for nearly $20 million, according to a deed that appeared in the city register Thursday.
Landlord Fred Ohebshalom, the chief executive officer of Empire Management, sold 208-210 W. 10th St. for $19.1 million to a limited liability company linked to Aziz Kabbaj, a managing partner at Reshape, a New York-based firm that calls itself a “next-generation investor in technology-enabled companies that need real estate to scale,” records show.
Ohebshalom has repeatedly made headlines in recent months for allegedly failing to safely maintain a number of his residential properties. He was sued by the city last year for allegedly allowing serious safety hazards to go unchecked at eight apartment buildings in Upper Manhattan, Crain’s reported. At 515 Cathedral Parkway, for instance, where tenants have reportedly called him “heartless and inhumane,” Ohebshalom is accused of racking up more than 50 violations from various city agencies, including for broken elevators and cracked facades.
As of last year, Empire had accumulated more than 300 violations for the disrepair, according to the city’s suit at the time, which was filed in Manhattan Supreme Court in January 2023.
The West 10th Street building — a 6-story walk-up with 39 units — was not named in the lawsuit, and it’s unclear how many open complaints it has on file. Ohebshalom sold the property, between West Fourth and Bleecker streets, under the limited liability company Quartz West 10, the address of which is the same as Empire Management, at 347 Fifth Ave. in Manhattan.
It’s not clear why Ohebshalom is parting ways with the building, which, according to city records, has been under control of Empire since at least 1999.
An apparent family member with the same last name — Daniel Ohebshalom — is also known for problems at his buildings. Considered the city’s “worst landlord,” Daniel Ohebshalom turned himself into authorities in March and is currently behind bars on Rikers Island for allegedly harassing his rent-regulated tenants in order to force them out and for allegedly refusing to fix hundreds of violations at two of his Washington Heights properties.
“He forced his tenants to live in unthinkable conditions,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said earlier this month when announcing the indictment.
The Ohebshaloms — who allegedly attempt to obfuscate their responsibilities by using various surnames and private entities in their real estate transactions — are well known among tenants and housing organizers, Hell Gate reported last year, and own at least 100 buildings across the five boroughs.
A message left for Fred Ohebshalom at his Empire Management office was not returned by press time, and when reached by cell phone, he declined to comment.
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Julianne Cuba , 2024-05-17 19:15:48
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