ABJ Properties signs $15.5M loan with New York Community for three walkups in Belmont

ABJ Properties through the entity Scg 490, LLC as borrower signed a loan with lender New York Community Bank valued at $15.5 million for three residential walkup properties including the midblock 30-unit residential walkup building at 490 East 189th Street in Belmont/Little Italy, Bronx, midblock 30-unit residential walkup building at 496 East 189th Street in Belmont/Little Italy, Bronx, and midblock 30-unit residential walkup building at 502 East 189th Street in Belmont/Little Italy, Bronx.
The deal closed on June 1, 2022 and was recorded on June 27, 2022. The three properties have 69,300 square feet of built space according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $223 per the PincusCo analysis. (The price per square foot analysis is the transaction price divided by square feet as reported in public records and assumes no air rights have been sold.)

Because multiple properties have been transacted, some of the following sections will follow the property with the largest assessed value, which in this case, is the property on 490 East 189th Street.

Prior sales and revenue

The owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Joseph Soleimani, head officer and Julio Lora, site manager. The business entity is Scg 490, Llc. The three properties with a total of 69,300 square feet of built space generated revenue of $1.2 million per year or $18 per square foot.

The property

The 490 East 189th Street parcel has frontage of 42 feet and is 122 feet deep with a total lot size of 5,146 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R6 which allows for up to 2.43 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.6 million.
The 496 East 189th Street parcel has frontage of 42 feet and is 122 feet deep with a total lot size of 5,177 square feet. The zoning is R6 which allows for up to 2.43 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.4 million.
The 502 East 189th Street parcel has frontage of 42 feet and is 122 feet deep with a total lot size of 5,177 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R6 which allows for up to 2.43 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.4 million.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the properties since September of 2020. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have received 36 housing violations, $1,600 in OATH penalties, and one housing litigation in the last year.

Development

There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $5 million on this tax lot.

The neighborhood

In Belmont/Little Italy, the bulk, or 35 percent of the 17.6 million square feet of commercial built space are residential walkup buildings, with residential elevator buildings next occupying 22 percent of the space. In sales, Belmont/Little Italy has had very little sales volume relative to other neighborhoods with $73 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Belmont/Little Italy has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 643,422 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 4 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On the tax block of 490 East 189th Street, PincusCo has identified the owners of seven of the 12 commercial properties representing 203,830 square feet of the 324,949 square feet. The largest owner is City of New York, followed by ABJ Properties and then Prana Investments. There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

the majority, or 48 percent of the 378,785 square feet of built space are residential walkup buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 28 percent of the space.

Surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 490 East 189th Street, PincusCo identified two commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months.
One of those two items was a sale which Tryline Capital Management bought the 0-square-foot development site (V1) on 4720 3rd Avenue and two other properties for $14 million from Naftali Group on February 10, 2022.
One of those two items was a loan which Peter Serpico and Payman Yadidi borrowed $87 million from Valley National Bank secured by the 0-square-foot development site (V1) on 4720 3rd Avenue and two other properties on June 13, 2022.

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