Blackstone files $31.5M pre-foreclosure at Bed-Stuy commercial

Blackstone Group through the entity SIG CRE 2023 Venture LLC filed a $31.5 million pre-foreclosure action at 490-500 Dekalb Avenue in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, alleging both payment and maturity defaults against the property owner. The property is owned by Joseph Heimann, through the entity Dekalb Center LLC, who bought it on December 13, 2018 for $23.25 million.
Blackstone filed the action February 19, 2025, in New York State Supreme Court in Brooklyn.
Court filings represent the position of one party and are not necessarily accurate or complete.
Case 505837/2025 LINK

Joseph Heimann borrowed $31.5 million March 15, 2021 from Signature Bank, as PincusCo reported at the time. Following the bank’s collapse, Blackstone bought a portfolio of its loans, including this one.

The complaint alleges payment defaults and a maturity default. “Borrower defaulted on its obligations under the Note as a result of its failure to remit the monthly payments due on July 15, 2023 and continuing on each Payment Date thereafter through March 15, 2024 (“Maturity Date”), when the entire principal balance remaining due became due (the “Monthly Installment Payment Default”)… Borrower further defaulted by failing to remit an amount equal to all outstanding principal… [and] unpaid interest on the Maturity Date (the “Maturity Default”).”

Joe Fekete of Royal Property Management submitted a major alteration application for a renovation of the 55,318 square-foot mercantile (M) building at 498 Dekalb Avenue in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. The plan was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings on August 29, 2024 under job number B01102419 and was permitted on October 9, 2024. It called for a rehab of the six-story building. The project was described in the filing as: proposed interior renovation and change to childcare for cellar level / partial first floor of an existing six (6) story and cellar commercial building.

The property

The office building in Bedford Stuyvesant has 56,112 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has two buildings with frontage of 160 feet and is 79 feet deep with a total lot size of 12,240 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R7A which allows for up to 4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $4.2 million. The most recent loan totaled $31.5 million and was provided by Signature Bank on March 15, 2021.

Prior sales and revenue

This property was sold for $23.2 million on December 13, 2018.

Development

For the tax lot building, it received its initial renovation certificate of occupancy on February 2, 2023.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has received $2,350 in OATH penalties in the last year.

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months.

The neighborhood

In Bedford Stuyvesant, The bulk, or 35 percent of the 54.8 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 29 percent of the space. In sales, Bedford Stuyvesant has the 10th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $1.1 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Bedford Stuyvesant has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 5th highest in Brooklyn. It had 2.8 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 5 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There were two pre-foreclosure suit filed among other development buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of five of the 14 commercial properties representing 99,511 square feet of the 117,359 square feet. The largest owner is Baruch Rosenfeld, followed by Isidore Lefkowitz and then Joseph Heimann. On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 3,966 square feet. It is a two-unit, 3,966 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Joel Jacobowitz with plans filed March 20, 2023 and permitted August 15, 2023.

The owner

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Joseph Heimann owned at least two commercial properties with 36 residential units in New York City with 84,544 square feet and a city-determined market value of $7.7 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $36.7 million in debt, borrowed from Signature Bank and New York Community Bank. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 66 percent of the 84,544 square feet of built space are office properties, with walkup properties next occupying 34 percent of the space. The bulk, or 66 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Queens next at 34 percent of the space.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 490 Dekalb Avenue, PincusCo identified three commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. One of those three items was a sale which Fishel Schlesinger bought the 12,421-square-foot, 16-unit rental (D1) on 245 Franklin Avenue for $7.6 million from Victor Battaglia estate on August 7, 2023. Of those three items, two were loans above $5 million totaling $12.7 million. The most recent of the two was Fishel Schlesinger in which borrowed $7.5 million from Levon Capital secured by the 12,421-square-foot, 16-unit rental (D1) on 245 Franklin Avenue on January 16, 2025.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.