EMP Capital signs $35M refi with UK bank for newly built 69-unit rental in Crown Heights

EMP Capital Group through the entity EMP Grand Pacific LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with UK lender OakNorth Bank valued at $35 million for the newly constructed 69-unit building at 985 Pacific Street in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

There is a new building project for a 69-unit, 55,957 square-foot R-2 building submitted by EMP Capital Group and filed by Elie Pariente with plans filed December 1, 2020 and permitted January 31, 2022.

The deal closed on December 13, 2023 and was recorded on January 30, 2024. The prior lender was Dime Community Bank which held debt that had an original loan amount of $21.5 million.

The owner bought the property on October 24, 2018, for $6 million. The signatory for EMP Capital Group was Elichai Pariente. The signatory for OakNorth Bank was Robert Pearce. OakNorth Bank is based in the UK.

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 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 $321,000. The most recent loan totaled $21.5 million and was provided by Dime Community Bank on January 21, 2022.

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 $750 in OATH penalties in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Crown Heights, The bulk, or 39 percent of the 46.5 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 1.8 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $536.7 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 12th highest in Brooklyn. For development, Crown Heights has 2.5 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 5th highest in Brooklyn. It had 2.5 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 5 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There was one pre-foreclosure suit filed among other industrial buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 11 of the 24 commercial properties representing 122,094 square feet of the 179,373 square feet. The largest owner is Watermark Capital Group, followed by Rachel Surzion and then Rachel Surizon.
On the tax block, there were three new building construction projects totaling 236,890 square feet. The largest is a 193-unit, 172,789 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by EMP Capital Group and filed by Elie Pariente with plans filed April 14, 2022 and permitted May 19, 2022. The second largest is a 69-unit, 55,957 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by EMP Capital Group and filed by Elie Pariente with plans filed December 1, 2020 and permitted December 21, 2021.

The majority, or 61 percent of the 179,373 square feet of built space are industrial buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 22 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that EMP Capital Group owned at least six commercial properties.

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