Alma Realty signs $14.8M refi for two residential elevator properties in Cypress Hills

Alma Realty through the entity Bns Buildings, LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender First National Bank of Long Island valued at $14.8 million for two residential elevator properties including the midblock 94-unit residential elevator building at 220 Highland Boulevard in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn and 66-unit residential elevator building at 200 Highland Boulevard in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn.

Alma Realty has refinanced $227 million in 13 transactions of $5 million and up over the past two years. The most active lender was JPMorgan Chase with seven transactions totaling $90.2 million.
The Highland Boulevard deal closed on April 4, 2022 and was recorded on April 15, 2022. The prior lender was New York Community Bank which held debt that had an original loan amount of $14 million. The two properties have 132,096 square feet of built space according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $111 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.)
The signatory for Alma Realty was Efstathios Valiotis. The signatory for First National Bank of Long Island was Richard O’Rourke. Efstathios “Steve” Valiotis is the founder and president of Alma Realty Corp. 

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 220 Highland Boulevard.

Prior sales and revenue

The owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Efstathios Valiotis, head officer and Stamakiki Valiotis, officer. The business entity is Bns.Buildings Llc. The two properties with a total of 132,096 square feet of built space generated revenue of $2.6 million per year or $20 per square foot.

The property

The 220 Highland Boulevard parcel has frontage of 110 feet and is 190 feet deep with a total lot size of 20,900 square feet. The zoning is R4 which allows for up to 0.75 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $6.4 million.

Violations and lawsuits

The properties were not involved in any lawsuits or bankruptcies in the past years. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have received six DOB violations, $2,500 in ECB penalties, 83 housing violations, $2,500 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 Cypress Hills, the majority, or 56 percent of the 20.9 million square feet of commercial built space are 1-4 family buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 12 percent of the space. In sales, Cypress Hills has the 41st highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in Brooklyn with $19.6 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Cypress Hills has 1.4 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 16th highest in Brooklyn. It had 1.2 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 6 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 70 percent of the 402,192 square feet of built space are residential elevator buildings, with 1-4 family buildings next occupying 30 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Alma Realty owned at least 52 commercial properties with 3,089,263 square feet and a city-determined market value of $323.9 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $482.7 million in debt, with top three lenders as New York Community Bank, Efstathios Valiotis, and Deutsche Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 77 percent of the 3,089,263 square feet of built space are residential elevator properties, with residential walkup properties next occupying 13 percent of the space. The bulk, or 44 percent of the built space, is in Queens, with Manhattan next at 29 percent of the space.

Surrounding

PincusCo has not identified any commercial real estate items of interest within a 400-foot radius of 220 Highland Boulevard that occurred over the past 24 months.

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