Benzion Wachsman signs $27.7M refi with CBRE for 109-unit rental in Longwood

Benzion Wachsman through the entity Prospect Union Associates, L.P. as borrower signed a refi loan with lender CBRE through the entity CBRE Multifamily Capital, Inc. valued at $27.7 million for the 109-unit residential elevator building (D1) at 645 Prospect Avenue in Longwood, Bronx.
The deal closed on May 22, 2025 and was recorded on July 21, 2025. The prior lender was Flagstar Bank which held debt that had an original loan amount of $21.3 million.The property has 112,536 square feet of built space and 80,151 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 192,812 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $246 and the price per buildable square foot is $143 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 Benzion Wachsman was Benzion A. Wachsman . The signatory for CBRE was Marion S. Green .

Prior sales and revenue

The owner according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development is Chaim Leser, head officer. The business entity is Prospect Union Associates. The 112,536-square-foot property generated revenue of $2.6 million or $23 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The residential elevator building with 109 residential units in Longwood has 112,536 square feet of built space and 80,151 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 192,812 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 295 feet and is 190 feet deep with a total lot size of 56,050 square feet. The zoning is R7-1 which allows for up to 3.44 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $9.1 million. The most recent loan totaled $21.3 million and was provided by New York Community Bank on April 14, 2022.

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 49 housing violations and $2,910 in OATH penalties 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 this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of four of the 21 commercial properties representing 205,166 square feet of the 380,899 square feet. The largest owner is Benzion Wachsman, followed by Robert Rosenberg and then Lemle & Wolff.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 53,345 square feet. The largest is a 45-unit, 47,737 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Leopoldo Baez with plans filed March 17, 2017 and permitted August 10, 2017. The second largest is a 12-unit, 5,608 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Simon Neuman with plans filed January 4, 2022 and permitted January 4, 2023.

The majority, or 47 percent of the 380,899 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 44 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Benzion Wachsman owned at least 28 commercial properties with 969 residential units in New York City with 948,061 square feet and a city-determined market value of $70.4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $127 million in debt, with top three lenders as JPMorgan Chase, New York Community Bank, and PIMCO respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 88 percent of the 948,061 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 12 percent of the space. The bulk, or 63 percent of the built space, is in Bronx, with Brooklyn next at 30 percent of the space.

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