Elie Fouerti signs $97M construction loan for 209-unit development in East Harlem

Developer Elie Fouerti through the entity 2005-2009 3rd Ave Qoz LLC as borrower signed a construction loan with lender Goldman Sachs through the entity Goldman Sachs Bank USA valued at $97 million for the 209-unit development at 2005 Third Avenue in East Harlem, Manhattan.
On the lot, there is one active new building construction project for a 209-unit, 181,287-square-foot residential (R-2) building. The project was submitted by Elie Fouerti with plans filed March 6, 2022 and permitted May 27, 2022.
The deal closed on June 18, 2024 and was recorded on June 27, 2024. The loan price per planned square foot is $535 per the PincusCo analysis.
The owner bought the property on November 5, 2021, for $4.1 million. Elie Fouerti signed for the borrower entity.

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 $7,300 in ECB penalties and $7,930 in OATH penalties in the last year.

The neighborhood

In East Harlem, The majority, or 51 percent of the 52.4 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 21 percent of the space. In sales, East Harlem has 1.5 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $415.5 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 20th highest in Manhattan. For development, East Harlem has 1.3 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 23rd highest in Manhattan. It had 1.5 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 3 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 14 of the 27 commercial properties representing 154,045 square feet of the 255,068 square feet. The largest owner is Veronica Wong, followed by Morris Platt and then Maria Ferrer.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 117,959 square feet. The largest is a 91-unit, 114,582 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Elie Fouerti and filed by Elie Fouerti with plans filed March 6, 2022 and permitted May 27, 2022. The second largest is a 3,377 square-foot assembly (A-2) building submitted by Jimmy Mateus with plans filed May 10, 2017 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 40 percent of the 255,068 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 29 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Elie Fouerti owned at least nine commercial properties.  The bulk, or 68 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 32 percent of the space.

Direct link to Acris document. link