Bruman Realty sells 100-unit building in Brownsville for $23.2M

An anonymous buyer through the entity 313 Powell Holdings LLC paid $23.2 million to Bruman Realty through the entity Powell Realty Holdings LLC for the 100-unit hotel building (HR) at 313 Powell Street in Brownsville, Brooklyn.
The deal closed on December 19, 2023 and was recorded on January 2, 2024. The property has 52,431 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $443 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 seller bought the property on February 19, 2015, for $5.1 million. The signatory for Bruman Realty was Joseph Brunner. The contract date was September 1, 2023. Bruman Realty borrowed $13.5 million in 2020.

In July 2015, Joseph Brunner filed plans to convert a manufacturing building into a 100-unit hotel building.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyers with registration at Jeffrey Zwick & Associates have purchased at least three properties in three transactions for a total of $49.7 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Bruman Realty purchased three properties in three transactions for a total of $7.5 million and sold one properties in one transaction for a total of $225 million over the same time period. The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Shia Mandel, individual owner and Juan Acosta, site manager.

The property

The hotel building with 100 residential units in Brownsville has 52,431 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 60 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 15,970 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is M1-1 which allows for up to 1 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.2 million. The most recent loan totaled $13.5 million and was provided by Starwood Capital Group on September 14, 2020.

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 $1,150 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

For the tax lot building, it received its initial certificate of occupancy on June 3, 2020. 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 Brownsville, The bulk, or 46 percent of the 28.6 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 21 percent of the space. In sales, Brownsville has had very little sales volume relative to other neighborhoods with $141.1 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Brownsville has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 844,399 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 3 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of three of the 11 commercial properties representing 57,131 square feet of the 114,341 square feet. The largest owner is Moishe E. Ostreicher, followed by Bruman Realty and then Abe Grunbaum.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 14,948 square feet. It is a 22-unit, 14,948 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Moshe Ostricher with plans filed November 21, 2018 and permitted May 27, 2022.

The majority, or 46 percent of the 114,341 square feet of built space are hotel buildings, with industrial buildings next occupying 39 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Bruman Realty owned at least 19 commercial properties with 596 residential units in New York City with 381,282 square feet and a city-determined market value of $67.4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $692.9 million in debt, with top three lenders as Starwood Capital Group, Greystone & Co., and Slate Property Group respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 34 percent of the 381,282 square feet of built space are N3 properties, with elevator properties next occupying 17 percent of the space. The bulk, or 64 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Queens next at 21 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Jeffrey Zwick & Associates Registered owned at least four commercial properties in New York City with 151,656 square feet and a city-determined market value of $33.8 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 86 percent of the 151,656 square feet of built space are hotel properties, with specialty properties next occupying 11 percent of the space. The bulk, or 53 percent of the built space, is in Queens, with Brooklyn next at 36 percent of the space.

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