Chess Builders signs $79M construction loan for 135-unit project in Midtown West

Chess Builders through the entity West 49 Realty LLC as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender S3 Capital through the entity S3 RE 250 W 49 St Funding LLC valued at $79 million for the 135-unit development at 244 West 49th Street in Midtown West, Manhattan. The lot has an alternate address of 250 West 49th Street.
On the lot, there is one active new building construction project, M00630979, for a 96,334-square-foot, 135-unit residential (R-2) building. The project was submitted by Rex Hakimian with plans filed January 12, 2022 and permitted May 31, 2022. (The DOB plan shows 135 units on the zoning document and 136 units in other portions of the filing.)
The deal closed on January 13, 2025 and was recorded on January 22, 2025. The prior lender was Metropolitan Commercial Bank which held debt that had an original loan amount of $22.8 million. The loan price per the project’s square feet is $820 per square foot, per the PincusCo analysis.
Chess Builders bought the property on January 13, 2025, for $30 million. The signatory for Chess Builders was Cheskel Schwimmer. The signatory for S3 Capital was Joshua Crane.

The property

The zoning is C6-5 which allows for up to 10 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 10 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $6.6 million.

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 not received any significant violations in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Midtown West, The majority, or 75 percent of the 75.9 million square feet of commercial built space are office buildings, with hotel buildings next occupying 14 percent of the space. In sales, Midtown West has the 3rd highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $2.5 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Midtown West is the most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 30.6 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 40 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of six of the 11 commercial properties representing 1,517,422 square feet of the 1,578,897 square feet. The largest owner is Argent Ventures, followed by Stonehenge NNYCyc and then Dream Hotel Group.

The majority, or 61 percent of the 1.6 million square feet of built space are hotel buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 30 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Chess Builders owned at least four commercial properties with 218 residential units in New York City with 120,310 square feet and a city-determined market value of $14 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $184.4 million in debt, borrowed from MF1 Capital and Parke Bank. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 52 percent of the 120,310 square feet of built space are industrial properties, with office properties next occupying 48 percent of the space. The bulk, or 52 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Manhattan next at 48 percent of the space.

Direct link to Acris document. link