Fannie Mae files $18.3M pre-foreclosure at 154-unit Bed Stuy rental purchased last year

The government-sponsored entity Fannie Mae filed an $18.3 million pre-foreclosure action against the owner of the 154-unit rental building at 400 Herkimer Street in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, alleging the loan fell into a payment default less than a year after the owner bought the property.
Court records represent the position of one party and are not necessarily accurate or complete.

Amarbin Ahmed purchased the six-story, 145,336-square-foot elevator building from Dilruba Hussain and Delwar Hussain for $21.1 million on May 25, 2023, borrowing $18.3 million originated by Greystone & Co. and assigned to Fannie Mae.

According to a demand letter dated May 20, 2024, sent by Fannie Mae’s attorneys, “multiple defaults have occurred under the terms of the Note and other Loan Documents (as such terms are defined herein) by virtue of, inter alia, (1) Borrower’s failure to make monthly payments of certain amounts due and outstanding under the Loan Documents starting in February 2024 and continuing to the present; (2) Borrower’s failure to furnish annual and quarterly financial information, including rent rolls, by the dates required under the Loan Documents; and (3) Borrower’s granting of a junior lien, encumbrance, and security interest in the form of a junior mortgage.”

The property

The parcel has frontage of 233 feet and is 185 feet deep with a total lot size of 43,221 square feet. The zoning is R6A which allows for up to 3 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $5.2 million. The most recent loan totaled $18.3 million and was provided by Greystone & Co. on May 25, 2023.

The 145,336-square-foot property generated revenue of $1.8 million or $12 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has received two DOB violations, $655 in ECB penalties, 175 housing violations, $755 in OATH penalties, and four housing litigations in the last year.

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months.

The neighborhood

In Bedford Stuyvesant, The bulk, or 35 percent of the 54.8 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 29 percent of the space. In sales, Bedford Stuyvesant has the 9th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $1.2 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Bedford Stuyvesant has near average amount of major developments among 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 development buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 13 of the 24 commercial properties representing 228,668 square feet of the 290,881 square feet. The largest owner is Akleema Valme, followed by Alchemy Ventures and then Amarbin Ahmed. On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 17,787 square feet. The largest is a 10-unit, 11,197 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Rona Reodica with plans filed May 7, 2020 and permitted August 22, 2023. The second largest is a eight-unit, 6,590 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by M1 Development and filed by Rafael Manor with plans filed December 24, 2014 and permitted November 17, 2016.

The owner

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Amarbin Ahmed owned at least one commercial property with 154 residential units in New York City with 145,336 square feet and a city-determined market value of $5.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $27.5 million in debt, borrowed from Greystone & Co. and UC Funds. The portfolio consists of at least a single elevator property. It is located in Brooklyn.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 408 Herkimer Street, PincusCo identified eight commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those eight items, three were in new building development. There were three new building permits. The most recent of these three items was a permit on August 22, 2023 for a 11,197-square-foot residential (R-2) building with 10 residential units at 423 Herkimer Street. One of those eight items was a sale which SKW Funding and Dalan Managment bought the 68,024-square-foot, 50-unit rental (D7) on 1520 Fulton Street for $34.5 million from Windsor Global and Jacob Gold on October 13, 2022. Of those eight items, four were loans above $5 million totaling $90.7 million. The most recent of the four was David Banda in which borrowed $9.2 million from Starwood Mortgage Capital secured by the 2,449-square-foot, 21-unit rental (D3) on 35 Kingston Avenue on January 26, 2024.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.