Arker Companies signs $200.8M refi for 17-building Bronx portfolio

Arker Companies through the entity Bronx Preservation Housing Development Fund Corp. as borrower signed a refi loan with lender Merchants Capital through the entity Merchants Capital Corp. valued at $200.8 million for 17 properties with 679 residential units including the 70-unit residential elevator building (D1) at 1041 Findlay Avenue in Concourse Village, Bronx, 57-unit residential elevator building (D1) at 1280 Sheridan Avenue in Concourse Village, Bronx, and 49-unit residential elevator building (D1) at 1055 Findlay Avenue in Concourse Village, Bronx.
The deal closed on July 24, 2025 and was recorded on August 4, 2025. The prior lender was Freddie Mac and the NYC Housing Development Corporation which held debt that had an original loan amount of $178 million.The 17 properties have 674,565 square feet of built space and 35,650 square feet of additional air rights according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $297 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 Arker Companies was Daniel Moritz . The signatory for Merchants Capital was Bianca Geary .

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 1041 Findlay Avenue.

Prior sales and revenue

The owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Robert Corso, head officer and Ilsoo Kim, officer. The business entity is Bronx Preservation Limited Partnership. The 17 properties with a total of 674,565 square feet of built space generated revenue of $15.8 million per year or $23 per square foot.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the properties for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have received three DOB violations, 245 housing violations, $8,560 in OATH penalties, and four housing litigations in the last year.

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 1041 Findlay Avenue, PincusCo has identified the owners of 17 of the 23 commercial properties representing 379,740 square feet of the 429,146 square feet. The largest owner is Arker Companies, followed by Stagg Group and then New York City Housing Authority.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 63 percent of the 429,146 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 35 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Arker Companies owned at least 103 commercial properties with 6,684 residential units in New York City with 6,556,993 square feet and a city-determined market value of $573.4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $1.3 billion in debt, with top three lenders as NYC Housing Development Corporation, Merchants Capital, and Merchants Bank of Indiana respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 65 percent of the 6,556,993 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 21 percent of the space. The bulk, or 53 percent of the built space, is in Bronx, with Brooklyn next at 33 percent of the space.

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