Bruman Realty signs $25M refi with Webster Bank for 46-unit rental in Greenpoint

Bruman Realty through the entity Bayard Holdings LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender Webster Bank valued at $25 million for the new 46-unit building at 146 Bayard Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
On the lot, there was a new building construction project for a 46-unit, 31,371 square-foot residential (R-2) building. The project was developed by Solomon Feder with plans filed August 24, 2017 and permitted February 8, 2021.
The loan closed on February 22, 2023 and was recorded on February 24, 2023. The prior construction lender was Popular Bank which held debt that had an original loan amount of $15.7 million.
The owner bought the property on October 17, 2017, for $7.8 million. The signatory for Bruman Realty was Joseph Brunner. The signatory for Webster Bank was Jonathan Whitehouse.

The property

The 146 Bayard Street parcel has frontage of 101 feet and is 96 feet deep with a total lot size of 8,800 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is M1-2/R6A which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing and up to 3 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $880,000.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property since September of 2020. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $3,025 in ECB penalties in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Greenpoint, the bulk, or 30 percent of the 22.7 million square feet of commercial built space are walkup buildings, with industrial buildings next occupying 27 percent of the space. In sales, Greenpoint has 2 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $709.5 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 6th highest in Brooklyn. For development, Greenpoint has 2.6 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 7th highest in Brooklyn. It had 2.6 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 11 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of five of the 13 commercial properties representing 61,217 square feet of the 104,942 square feet. The largest owner is Yoel Berkowitz, followed by Joel Schwartz and then Joel Lefkowitz.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 40,285 square feet. The largest is a 46-unit, 31,371-square-foot R-2 building developed by Solomon Feder with plans filed August 24, 2017 and permitted February 8, 2021. The second largest is a 13-unit, 8,914-square-foot R-2 building developed by Joel Berkowitz with plans filed June 11, 2015.

The majority, or 63 percent of the 104,942 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 17 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Bruman Realty owned at least 17 commercial properties in New York City with 365,917 square feet and a city-determined market value of $56.8 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $515.4 million in debt, with top three lenders as Starwood Capital Group, Slate Property Group, and Bank Hapoalim respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 35 percent of the 365,917 square feet of built space are N3 properties, with industrial properties next occupying 24 percent of the space. The bulk, or 68 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Queens next at 22 percent of the space.

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