Douglaston Development signs $106.8M construction loan for 158-unit project in Hell’s Kitchen

Douglaston Development through the entity West 48 Owner LLC as borrower signed a new construction loan with the New York City Housing Development Corporation valued at $106.8 million for the 158-unit project at 509 West 48th Street in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan.

On the lot, there is one active new building construction project for a 158-unit, 131,668 square-foot residential (R-2) building. The project was submitted by Douglaston Development and filed by Joel Kolkmann with plans filed August 31, 2021 and permitted January 17, 2024.

The signatory for Douglaston Development was Jed Resnick. This is to build Rialto West, in partnership with Entertainment Community Fund, according to the Commercial Observer.

PincusCo reported last week that Douglaston Development had acquired and filed plans for a new Carnegie Hill residential tower.

The property

The parcel has frontage of 200 feet and is 225 feet deep with a total lot size of 57,027 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R8 which allows for up to 6.02 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential.

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 $1,250 in ECB penalties and $1,250 in OATH penalties in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Hell’s Kitchen, The bulk, or 39 percent of the 40.6 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 18 percent of the space. In sales, Hell’s Kitchen has 2.8 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $816.9 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 14th highest in Manhattan. For development, Hell’s Kitchen is the 7th most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 5.3 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 13 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 69,670 square feet of the 105,825 square feet. The largest owner is Ranger Management, followed by Northpath Investments and then GPS Realty NYC.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 131,668 square feet. It is a 158-unit, 131,668 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Douglaston Development and filed by Joel Kolkmann with plans filed August 31, 2021 and permitted January 17, 2024.

The majority, or 48 percent of the 105,825 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 36 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Douglaston Development owned at least seven commercial properties with 2,188 residential units in New York City with 2,200,427 square feet and a city-determined market value of $552.4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $82 million in debt, borrowed from NYS Housing Finance Agency and Metropolitan Commercial Bank. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 99 percent of the 2,200,427 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with retail properties next occupying 1 percent of the space. The bulk, or 51 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Manhattan next at 43 percent of the space.

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