Bawabeh Brothers signs $13.5M refi loan with Ladder Capital for five properties in NYC
Bawabeh Brothers through the entity 2923 Third Avenue Realty LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender Ladder Capital valued at $13.5 million for five properties including the retail building (K2) at 2927 3rd Avenue in Melrose, Bronx, office building (O2) at 918 Seneca Avenue in Ridgewood, Queens, and retail building (K1) at 1046 Southern Boulevard in Longwood, Bronx.
The deal closed on November 1, 2024 and was recorded on November 14, 2024. The prior lender was Blackstone Group which held debt that had an original loan amount of $22.6 million.The five properties have 34,875 square feet of built space and 66,597 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 100,544 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $387 and the price per buildable square foot is $134 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 Bawabeh Brothers was Ezra Mizrachi. The signatory for Ladder Capital was David Traitel.
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 one DOB violation, $2,500 in ECB penalties, and $4,240 in OATH penalties in the last year.
Development
For the tax lot buildings, one out of the five buildings received a initial certificate of occupancy in the last ten years. There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $1 million on this tax lot.
The neighborhood
In East Harlem, The majority, or 51 percent of the 52.4 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 21 percent of the space. In sales, East Harlem has 1.8 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $454.5 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 21st highest in Manhattan. For development, East Harlem has 1.9 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 18th highest in Manhattan. It had 2 million 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 162 East 116th Street, PincusCo has identified the owners of 21 of the 50 commercial properties representing 220,282 square feet of the 424,976 square feet. The largest owner is William Kukielka, followed by Charles Alpert (271) and then Mack Real Estate Group.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.
The majority, or 46 percent of the 424,976 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 27 percent of the space.
The borrower
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Bawabeh Brothers owned at least 30 commercial properties with 84 residential units in New York City with 345,393 square feet and a city-determined market value of $51.7 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $122.6 million in debt, with top three lenders as Signature Bank, Investors Bank, and Webster Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 25 percent of the 345,393 square feet of built space are specialty properties, with retail properties next occupying 24 percent of the space. The bulk, or 93 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Queens next at 7 percent of the space.
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