Borough Developers pays $12M to Slate for 101-unit dev site in Fort Greene

Mendel Berkowitz’s Borough Developers through the entity One Five Five LLC paid $12 million to Slate Property Group through the entity Hanson Street Propco LLC for the development building (V1) at 155 South Elliott Place in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

On the lot, there is one active new building construction project for a 101-unit, 85,765 square-foot R-2 building. The project was submitted by Borough Developers and filed by Mendel Berkowitz with plans filed November 29, 2023 and it has not been permitted yet.

The deal closed on December 28, 2023 and was recorded on January 8, 2024.
The seller bought this and other properties on September 30, 2022, for $42.6 million. The signatory for Slate Property Group was David Schwartz. The signatory for Borough Developers was Mendel Berkowitz. The contract date was September 29, 2023.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Mendel Berkowitz had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Slate Property Group purchased 13 properties in 12 transactions for a total of $453.2 million and sold four properties in four transactions for a total of $109.9 million over the same time period.

The property

The development building in Fort Greene has 57,200 square feet of built space and 58,748 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 58,748 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 60 feet and is 275 feet deep with a total lot size of 14,687 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 $6.5 million. The most recent loan totaled $38.9 million and was provided by Mizuho Bank on February 24, 2023.

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 eight DOB violations, one housing violation, and $2,650 in OATH penalties in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Fort Greene, The bulk, or 34 percent of the 12.4 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 23 percent of the space. In sales, Fort Greene has 1.7 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $539.2 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 12th highest in Brooklyn. For development, Fort Greene has 1.7 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 10th highest in Brooklyn. It had 1.7 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 13 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of two of the seven commercial properties representing 100,013 square feet of the 130,413 square feet. The two identified owners are Yoel Zagelbaum and MDG Design + Construction.
On the tax block, there were three new building construction projects totaling 179,047 square feet. The largest is a 104-unit, 86,391 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by MDG Design + Construction and filed by Michael Rooney with plans filed May 15, 2019 and permitted March 31, 2022. The second largest is a 101-unit, 85,765 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Borough Developers and filed by Mendel Berkowitz with plans filed November 29, 2023 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 77 percent of the 130,413 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with office buildings next occupying 23 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Slate Property Group owned at least 50 commercial properties with 2,528 residential units in New York City with 2,561,810 square feet and a city-determined market value of $675.9 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $1.2 billion in debt, with top three lenders as Mack Real Estate Group, Signature Bank, and PCCP respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 83 percent of the 2,561,810 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 12 percent of the space. The bulk, or 65 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 17 percent of the space.

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