Berggruen Holdings, Firebird pay $25M to Thor for 9 rentals in Boerum Hill

Berggruen Holdings and Firebird Grove through the entity Atlantic Gardens LLC paid $25 million to Thor Equities through the entity Thor Atlantic Gardens LLC for nine adjacent properties from 525 Atlantic Avenue through 541 Atlantic Avenue in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. The expected use is cash flowing.
The deal closed on December 18, 2024 and was recorded on January 3, 2025. The nine properties have 33,759 square feet of built space and 35,248 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 69,000 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $740 and the price per buildable square foot is $362 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 Thor Equities was Morris Missry. The signatories for Berggruen Holdings were Koonal Gandhi and Justin Topilow and the contact for Firebird Grove was Jack Moran. The contract date was August 8, 2024. Berggruen Holdings is an investor in Oculus, a venture of Berggruen Holdings and Firebird Grove.

The brokerage Arch Equities brokered both side of the deal.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Berggruen Holdings had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Thor Equities purchased two properties in two transactions for a total of $66.6 million and sold 12 properties in nine transactions for a total of $447.5 million over the same time period. The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Melissa Gliatta, head officer and Maeve Larrabee, site manager. The business entities are Avison Young – New York, Llc and Thor Atlantic Gardens Llc.

The property

The zoning is R7A which allows for up to 4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing.

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 $500 in ECB penalties and $575 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

For the tax lot buildings, three out of the nine 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 Boerum Hill, The bulk, or 32 percent of the 9 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 16 percent of the space. In sales, Boerum Hill has 1.3 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $326.6 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 20th highest in Brooklyn. For development, Boerum Hill has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 13th 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 14 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On the tax block of 541 Atlantic Avenue, PincusCo has identified the owners of four of the 20 commercial properties representing 16,650 square feet of the 66,188 square feet. The two identified owners are Thor Equities and Jean Aspiotis.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 82 percent of the 66,188 square feet of built space are mixed-use buildings, with industrial buildings next occupying 10 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Thor Equities owned at least 22 commercial properties with 346 residential units in New York City with 670,309 square feet and a city-determined market value of $179.4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $231.4 million in debt, with top three lenders as MetLife, Prime Finance, and AB CarVal Investors respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 59 percent of the 670,309 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with office properties next occupying 11 percent of the space. The bulk, or 71 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 29 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Firebird Grove owned at least 45 commercial properties with 390 residential units in New York City with 341,096 square feet and a city-determined market value of $157 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $37 million in debt, with top three lenders as Derby Copeland Capital, Bank of America, and Signature Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 58 percent of the 341,096 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with mixed-use properties next occupying 29 percent of the space. The bulk, or 53 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 47 percent of the space.

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