Artimus signs $91M construction loan for residential construction in Gowanus

UPDATED: Artimus through the entity 164 4 LLC as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender JPMorgan Chase and Community Preservation Corporation through the entity Cpc Mortgage Company LLC valued at $91 million for the development project at 164 4th Avenue in Gowanus, Brooklyn.

On the lot, there is one active new building construction project for a 140-unit, 114,431 square-foot residential (R-2) building. The project was submitted by Roee Wiczyk with plans filed November 22, 2021 and permitted April 27, 2022.

The deal closed on February 1, 2024 and was recorded on February 9, 2024.
The signatory for Artimus was Ronen Haron. JPMorgan Chase provided $74.75 million and the Community Preservation Corporation provided $16.2 million.

The property

The parcel has frontage of 160 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 13,479 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is C4-4D which allows for up to 3.4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 6.02 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.1 million.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $625 in ECB penalties and $975 in OATH penalties in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Gowanus, The bulk, or 46 percent of the 9.2 million square feet of commercial built space are industrial buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 19 percent of the space. In sales, Gowanus has 2.1 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $620.1 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 8th highest in Brooklyn. For development, Gowanus has 1.5 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 10th highest in Brooklyn. It had 1.5 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 16 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There were two pre-foreclosure suit filed among other industrial buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of three of the 17 commercial properties representing 58,325 square feet of the 164,252 square feet. The largest owner is Voices Of Community Activists And Leaders, followed by Jack Elo and then Dbjpm 2017-C6 611 Degraw Llc.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 114,431 square feet. It is a 140-unit, 114,431 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Roee Wiczyk with plans filed November 22, 2021 and permitted April 27, 2022.

The majority, or 44 percent of the 164,252 square feet of built space are industrial buildings, with retail buildings next occupying 31 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Artimus owned at least 30 commercial properties with 936 residential units in New York City with 550,239 square feet and a city-determined market value of $119.5 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $314.9 million in debt, with top three lenders as Bank Leumi, Bank Hapoalim, and Barings respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 56 percent of the 550,239 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 35 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.

Correction: A prior version of this post described the parcel as industrial. In fact it is a residential development.

Direct link to Acris document. link