Victor Sigoura’s Legion Investment Group is expanding its Upper East Side portfolio with a new residential project. They have partnered with SMA Equities, led by Samy Mahfar, to build a 300,000-square-foot residential building at the corner of East 84th Street and Third Avenue.
The partnership secured a $99 million loan from BDT & MSD Partners and Deutsche Bank, which closed last Thursday. A team from Walker & Dunlop, including Aaron Appel, Dustin Stolly, and Sean Bastian, arranged the financing.
Site assembly began in 2007 when entities tied to SMA Equities, real estate investor David Moussazadeh, and Rex Properties’ Francis Moezinia purchased 1491-1493 Third Avenue for $33.8 million. They later acquired 1495 Third Avenue in 2016 for $18.2 million and added 1497 Third Avenue last year for $12.5 million.
Demolition has started after the Department of Buildings issued permits earlier this summer. Hill West Architects will design the project.
This development grows Legion’s presence in the neighborhood. Their portfolio includes a 19-story, 31-unit luxury condo at 109 East 79th Street. In 2023, banking executive Joseph Rallo and his wife, Ashley, purchased a penthouse there for over $25 million.
Legion is also collaborating with Nahla Capital on 1122 Madison Avenue, where a penthouse priced at nearly $90 million found a buyer earlier this year. Sales for the 26-unit project began in January. By August, only two units, each priced around $39 million, remained unsold.
Beyond the Upper East Side, Legion is developing 550 West 21st Street, an 83-unit condominium on the West Chelsea waterfront. Danish architect Thomas Juul-Hansen designed it. In October, the firm secured a $155 million construction loan from Eldridge Real Estate Credit.
Legion and Gindi Capital are also working on 38 Gramercy Park East, after completing the site assembly in February.
Mahfar, Moussazadeh, and Moezinia have a long history of New York City real estate deals. In the early 2010s, Moussazadeh and Moezinia developed a rental project at 83 Franklin Street in Tribeca. More recently, in 2022, Mahfar and Moussazadeh acquired a majority stake in a development site at 280 Houston Street for $36.8 million.
