CW Realty Group signs $44M construction loan for dev site with 98-unit project in Crown Heights

UPDATED: CW Realty Group through the entity 1499 Bedford LLC as borrower signed a refi loan and a construction loan with lender Cross River Bank valued at $44 million for the specialty building (W9) at 1499 Bedford Avenue in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

On the lot, there is one active new building construction project for a 98-unit, 66,528 square-foot R-2 building. The project was developed by Cheskie Weiss with plans filed August 13, 2020 and permitted May 4, 2022.

The deal closed on October 31, 2022 and the $19 million land loan was recorded on November 14, 2022. The $25 million construction loan has not yet been recorded. The prior lender was Harry Einhorn which held debt that had an original loan amount of $15 million. The loan price per buildable square foot is $286 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 owner bought the property on September 18, 2020, for $13.9 million. The signatory for CW Realty Group was Cheskie Weisz. The signatory for Cross River Bank was Shimon Eisikowicz.

The property

The 1499 Bedford Avenue parcel has frontage of 130 feet and is 112 feet deep with a total lot size of 15,804 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R7D which allows for up to 4.2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $2.5 million.The most recent loan totaled $15 million and was provided by Harry Einhorn on September 18, 2020.

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 $13,500 in ECB penalties and $13,800 in OATH penalties in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Crown Heights, the bulk, or 38 percent of the 46.6 million square feet of commercial built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 36 percent of the space. In sales, Crown Heights has 1.4 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $470.2 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 13th highest in Brooklyn. For development, Crown Heights has 2.7 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 7th highest in Brooklyn. It had 2.8 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 6 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 11 of the 16 commercial properties representing 170,226 square feet of the 196,864 square feet. The largest owner is Yosi Cohen, followed by CW Realty and then David Schwartz of 3 Dakota.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 167,927 square feet. The largest is a 142-unit, 101,399-square-foot R-2 building developed by Yosi Cohen with plans filed November 14, 2013 and permitted August 21, 2015. The second largest is a 98-unit, 66,528-square-foot R-2 building developed by Cheskie Weiss with plans filed August 13, 2020 and permitted April 28, 2022.

The majority, or 51 percent of the 196,864 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 35 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that CW Realty Group owned at least 25 commercial properties in New York City with 269,791 square feet and a city-determined market value of $52.4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 53 percent of the 269,791 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 42 percent of the space. The bulk, or 88 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Queens next at 7 percent of the space.

Correction: The total loan is $44 million, but as of yesterday the $25 million construction loan had not yet been filed.

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