Site of Demolished Clinton Hill Italianate Villa Sells as Development Property for $6.5 Million

In Clinton Hill, after a number of twists and turns, an historic property that could not be saved has sold as a development site and will likely become apartments.

Located just outside the Clinton Hill Historic District at 532 Clinton Avenue, the property sold for $6.5 million to 532 Clinton LLC earlier this month. The address of the LLC, which leads to a box at the Bay Ridge Mail Station located at 9728 3rd Avenue, appears to be shared with a company called EM Development, which has worked on small development projects in Kensington, Bath Beach and Carroll Gardens.

The property will be delivered along with approved plans, according to the listing. Permits have been filed to build a 12-unit, seven-story residential building in its place.

The heirs of longtime owner James N. Warren sold the house in December 2016 to 532 Clinton Avenue Corp. for the unusually low sum of $525,000, public records show. But in June 2018, a correction deed was issued and another sale involving the same parties closed in July for $3,694,444.

Yuval Golan was listed as the most previous owner, along with Samiel Hanasab. Both have been in the news for prior eyebrow-raising real estate dealings. According to the New York Post, a lawyer for an 84-year-old woman named Evelyn Popalardo filed a suit against Golan and Bapaz Aderet Properties Corp in 2010 after her son sold her Sunset Park home to the developer for $6,000. The same year, an action was brought against Golan and Hanasab over their purchase of a home at 27 Chester Court in Prospect Lefferts Gardens. A guardian for the owner, Vita Vaughn, alleged that Golan and Hanasab “withheld funds due Vaughan from the sale of her house” and “joined together in a fraud to deprive her of her property, resulting in their unjust enrichment,” according to court documents.

More recently, Our Times Press published a story that put scrutiny on Golan’s purchase of a brownstone located at 591 Carlton Avenue in Prospect Heights for $50,000 following the death of its owner. And earlier this summer the pair purchased a brick building in Downtown Brooklyn with a connection to the abolitionist movement, located at 227 Duffield Street. Their plans to tear it down has caused protests among local activists.

No matter what happens on the site, it is part of a quickly transforming section of Clinton Hill. On the same block as the former Italianate villa, a giant Morris Adjmi-designed development is currently under construction that will tower over the property and replace a large section at the corner of Clinton Avenue and Atlantic, including once-famous drink spot Hot Bird, which was demolished in September.

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• Another Historic Clinton Avenue Gem to Be Sold and Razed for Apartments
• Historic Clinton Avenue Villa Hits Market as Tear-Down, Wants $7.9 Million

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