$28.75M pre-foreclosure filed against Pelham Bay new development

Lender First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company filed a pre-foreclosure action alleging a $28.75 million loan secured by a large office development and a planned 187-unit residential development in Pelham Bay, the Bronx, fell into default last year and despite a forbearance period, the 2019 loan remains unpaid.
The lender sent a letter June 2, 2022 to the developer, Mark Caller’s Marcal Group, announcing a loan default because, the letter said, substantial completion had not occurred, and then sent a letter November 8, 2022 saying the loan given November 5, 2019 was not repaid, which it said was another default. The parties signed a forbearance on January 30, 2023. The complaint states the $57 million sale in March 2023 was another event of default, as an unauthorized transfer.

Court records reflect the position of one party and are not necessarily accurate or complete.

Marcal Group submitted a new building construction project for an 83,305 square-foot business (B) building at 3651 Bruckner Blvd in Pelham Bay, Bronx. The plan was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings on June 6, 2017 under job number 220152769 and was permitted on August 1, 2019. It calls for the construction of a seven-story building. For the tax lot building, it received its initial certificate of occupancy on September 13, 2023.

In addition, Marcal Group submitted a new building construction project for a 187-unit, 180,091 square-foot residential (R-2) building on an adjacent lot at 3250 Westchester Avenue. The plan was filed on December 14, 2021. It calls for the construction of a 176-foot tall, 17-story building and was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings under job number X00643959. The architect is Fischer Makooi Architects PLLC. The project is described in the filing as: NB application proposed 17 story residential building parking on ground floor. The project has not been permitted.

Prior sales and revenue

This property was sold with 3 other properties by Marcal Group and Rester Management for $57 million to Marcal Group on March 8, 2023.

The neighborhood

In Pelham Bay, The bulk, or 27 percent of the 6.8 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 23 percent of the space. In sales, Pelham Bay has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $75.7 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 21st highest in Bronx. For development, Pelham Bay has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 24th highest in Bronx. It had 362,819 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 5 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The owner

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Marcal Group owned at least 13 commercial properties with four residential units in New York City with 318,842 square feet and a city-determined market value of $59.8 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $79.5 million in debt, with top three lenders as Valley National Bank, CIT Bank, and Israel Discount Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 85 percent of the 318,842 square feet of built space are office properties, with retail properties next occupying 11 percent of the space. The bulk, or 66 percent of the built space, is in Bronx, with Brooklyn next at 30 percent of the space.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 3651 Bruckner Boulevard, PincusCo identified four commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those four items, two were in new building development. There were two new building permit applications. The most recent of these two items was a filing on April 25, 2022 for a 52,467-square-foot business (B) building at 3251 Westchester Avenue. One of those four items was a sale which Bashkim Celaj bought the 79,400-square-foot, 73-unit rental (D7) on 3120 Wilkinson Avenue for $12.1 million from Sacchetti Realty on May 9, 2022. One of those four items was a loan which Bashkim Celaj borrowed $9.1 million from New York Community Bank secured by the 79,400-square-foot, 73-unit rental (D7) on 3120 Wilkinson Avenue on May 9, 2022.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.