$9.3M note sold secured by two former Emerald Equity rentals in Bushwick

The entity Linden Lev Debt LLC at the address of Kassin Sabbagh Realty bought a note with an original principal of $9.3 million from ConnectOne Bank secured by a 32-unit residential walkup building (C1) at 255 Linden Street and the 12-unit residential walkup building (C1) at 263 Linden Street, both in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

This property was part of Isaac Kassirer’s Emerald Equity Group holdings, but he assigned his interest to Moshe Piller’s M.P. Management in 2019. Emerald Equity Group no longer owns a once-large rent-regulated multifamily portfolio in the city, having lost buildings or turned them over to lenders or partners.

The properties were involved in one lawsuit over the past two years, which was filed in New York State Supreme Court in Brooklyn. The suit, 506522/2024, was a $9.3 million commercial foreclosure filed on March 5, 2024, by ConnectOne Bank naming the original borrowers including Emerald Equity Group as defendants.

In addition, according to city public data, the properties have received 27 housing violations and $1,580 in OATH penalties in the last year.
The deal closed on August 14, 2024 and was recorded on August 26, 2024. The prior lender was ConnectOne Bank which held debt that had an original loan amount of $9.3 million. In court records, Shlomo E. Liberman signed as an authorized signatory on behalf of the new lender.
The two properties have 32,796 square feet of built space and 3,279 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 34,015 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data.

Prior sales and revenue

The owner according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development is Harry Gartner, head officer. The business entity is Linden St Group Llc. The two properties with a total of 32,796 square feet of built space generated revenue of $848,507 per year or $26 per square foot.

The property

The residential walkup building with 32 residential units in Bushwick has 32,796 square feet of built space and 3,279 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 34,015 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 100 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 9,999 square feet. The zoning is R6 which allows for up to 2.43 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The property has a J-51 exemption that started in 1992 and expires in 2026. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $2.6 million.

Violations and lawsuits

Development

There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $1 million on this tax lot.

The block

On the tax block of 255 Linden Street, PincusCo has identified the owners of 22 of the 38 commercial properties representing 155,406 square feet of the 225,101 square feet. The largest owner is Riseboro Community Partnership, followed by Graph Group and then Gary Kassirer.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 81 percent of the 225,101 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 19 percent of the space.

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