Bungalow Projects files plans for 307K sf movie studio in East Williamsburg, paid $49M for site
242 Seigel Street (Credit - Cyclomedia)
Bungalow Projects, led by Susi Yu and Travis Feehan, filed plans August 22, 2024, for a movie studio at 242 Seigel Street in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, with a total construction floor area of 307,443 square feet including 181,747 zoning square feet. The building will be 74 feet tall. Susi Yu filed the plans with job number. B01072781. The architect is COOKFOX Architects.
This project comes two months after Bungalow and Bain Capital filed plans for a 155,069 zoning square-foot film and television production studio at 145 Wolcott Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn. That plan was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings on June 27, 2024 under job number B01061966.
The property
The parcel has frontage of 100 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 9,999 square feet. 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 $198,000. The most recent loan totaled $17.4 million and was provided by Axos Bank on October 2, 2023.
Prior sales and revenue
Bungalow Projects paid $41.5 million to Fortress Investment Group and Aview Equities in separate transactions in December 2023 for the bulk of this site formerly owned by Heritage Equity Partners, and then paid $7.8 million earlier this month for 246 Seigel Street.
| wdt_ID | floor | comment | description | persons_permitted | occupancy_label | zoning_use | dwelling_units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cellar | BIKE PKG, STORAGE, TRASH ROOM | Storage of non combustible Materials | 13 | Storage | VIII | |
| 2 | Cellar | PARKING FOR 214 VEHICLES | Parking Garage | 438 | Storage | VIII | |
| 3 | Cellar | ELEC SWITCH BOARD ROOM, ELEC. SERVICE SWITCH ROOM, FAN ROOM, FIRE SERVICE ROOM, IT SERVER ROOM, MEP SERVICES OUT, NETWORK PROTECTIONS, SUBSTATION, WATER SERVICE ROOM | Mechanical and/or electrical equipment room | 35 | Factory and Industrial | VIII | |
| 4 | Ground Floor | SOUND STAGE 6 | Moderate-Hazard: Manufacturing | 74 | Factory and Industrial | VIII | |
| 5 | Ground Floor | SOUND STAGE 1 (74 PERSONS), ACCESSORY SOUND STAGE 1 (14 PERSONS), JAN CLST (1) | Moderate-Hazard: Manufacturing | 89 | Factory and Industrial | VIII | |
| 6 | Ground Floor | LOADING | Storage of non combustible Materials | 8 | Storage | VIII | |
| 7 | Ground Floor | SOUND STAGE 2 (74 PERSONS), ACCESSORY SOUND STAGE 2 (12 PERSONS) | Moderate-Hazard: Manufacturing | 86 | Factory and Industrial | VIII | |
| 8 | Ground Floor | SOUND STAGE 3 | Moderate-Hazard: Manufacturing | 74 | Factory and Industrial | VIII | |
| 9 | Ground Floor | SOUND STAGE 4 | Moderate-Hazard: Manufacturing | 74 | Factory and Industrial | VIII | |
| 10 | Ground Floor | SOUND STAGE 5 | Moderate-Hazard: Manufacturing | 74 | Factory and Industrial | VIII | |
| 11 | 2 | FLEX OFFICE, ELEC CLOSET, IT CLOSET, JANITORS CLOSET | Office | 351 | Business | VIII | |
| 12 | 3 | FLEX OFFICE, CLOSET, ELEC CLOSET, IT CLOSET | Office | 109 | Business | VIII | |
| 13 | 4 | FLEX OFFICE, CLOSET, ELEC CLOSET, IT CLOSET | Office | 109 | Business | VIII | |
| 14 | 5 | OFFICE, TERRACE 1, TERRACE 2, CLOSET, ELEC CLOSET, IT CLOSET | Office | 380 | Business | VIII | |
| 15 | 6 | OFFICE, TERRACE 3, CLOSET, ELEC CLOSET, IT CLOSET | Office | 231 | Business | VIII |
Violations and lawsuits
According to city public data, the property has received $13,360 in ECB penalties in the last year.
There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months.
The neighborhood
In East Williamsburg, The majority, or 62 percent of the 17.1 million square feet of commercial built space are industrial buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 11 percent of the space. In sales, East Williamsburg has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $288.9 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 24th highest in Brooklyn. For development, East Williamsburg has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 9th highest in Brooklyn. It had 1.6 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 10 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.
The block
On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 12 of the 19 commercial properties representing 198,675 square feet of the 268,723 square feet. The identified owner is Bungalow Projects. On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 266,022 square feet. The largest is a 181,747 square-foot 58 building submitted by Susi Yu with plans filed August 22, 2024 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a 150-unit, 84,275 square-foot hotel/dormitory/shelter (R-1) building submitted by Heritage Equity Partners and filed by Allen Konstam with plans filed May 27, 2015 and permitted July 1, 2016.
The owner
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Bungalow Projects owned at least 15 commercial properties with 150 residential units in New York City with 223,115 square feet and a city-determined market value of $15.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 54 percent of the 223,115 square feet of built space are hotel properties, with mixed-use properties next occupying 30 percent of the space. They are all located in Brooklyn.
The surrounding
Within a 400-foot radius of 214 Seigel Street, PincusCo identified one commercial real estate item of interests occurred over the past 24 months. It was a sale which Bungalow Projects bought the 120,673-square-foot, 153-unit hotel (H2) on 232 Seigel Street for $14.8 million from Aview Equities on January 5, 2024.
Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.