Eric Modell pays $3.4M to Witnick Real Estate for mixed-use in Cobble Hill

Eric Modell through the entity 148 Atlantic Management LLC paid $3.4 million to Witnick Real Estate Partners through the entity 148 Atlantic Partners LLC for the six-unit mixed-use building (S5) at 148 Atlantic Avenue in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn.
The deal closed on October 30, 2023 and was recorded on November 3, 2023. The property has 4,620 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $731 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 seller bought the property on September 13, 2018, for $2.9 million. The signatory for Witnick Real Estate Partners was Isaac Abraham. The signatory for Eric Modell was Eric Modell. The contract date was September 12, 2023.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Eric Modell had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Witnick Real Estate Partners purchased 14 properties in 13 transactions for a total of $134.2 million and sold nine properties in eight transactions for a total of $34.4 million over the same time period. The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Ramiel Ben Yehuda, head officer and Isaac Abraham, officer. The business entities are Brighton Management and 148 Atlantic Partners Llc.

The property

The mixed-use building with 6 residential units in Cobble Hill has 4,620 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 21 feet and is 80 feet deep with a total lot size of 1,679 square feet. The zoning is R6 which allows for up to 2.43 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The property is in the Cobble Hill Historic District. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.1 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 received one DOB violation and $100 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

For the tax lot building, it received its initial certificate of occupancy on December 20, 2012. There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $1 million on this tax lot.

The neighborhood

In Cobble Hill, The bulk, or 31 percent of the 1.9 million square feet of commercial built space are walkup buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 30 percent of the space. In sales, Cobble Hill has had very little sales volume relative to other neighborhoods with $264.4 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Cobble Hill has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 347,872 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 18 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of six of the 18 commercial properties representing 32,150 square feet of the 99,107 square feet. The largest owner is Witnick Real Estate Partners, followed by Peak Capital Advisors and then Frank Valvo Living Trust.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 76 percent of the 99,107 square feet of built space are mixed-use buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 24 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Witnick Real Estate Partners owned at least 35 commercial properties with 635 residential units in New York City with 451,347 square feet and a city-determined market value of $134.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $133.3 million in debt, with top three lenders as Dime Community Bank, Arbor Realty Trust, and Signature Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 84 percent of the 451,347 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with elevator properties next occupying 15 percent of the space. The bulk, or 61 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 39 percent of the space.

Direct link to Acris document. link