Georgica Green pays $10.4M to Safehold for Coney Island dev site, gets $165M building loan

Georgica Green Ventures and its nonprofit partner RiseBoro Community Partnership through the entity Luna Green LLC paid $10.4 million to Safehold Inc. through the entity Bath Site LLC for the 205-unit development site at 2015 Boardwalk West in Coney Island, Brooklyn. This is Gerogica Green’s second project on the tax block.
On the lot, there is one active new building construction project for a 205-unit, 216,772 square-foot residential (R-2) building. The project was submitted by iStar Inc. and filed by Jesus Rosado under job number B08015349 with plans filed October 28, 2022 and permitted June 25, 2024.
The deal closed on June 25, 2024 and was recorded on July 3, 2024.

The signatory for Safehold Inc. was Elisha Blechner. The signatory for Georgica Green Ventures and RiseBoro Community Partnership was David J. Gallo and Emily Kurtz. The contract date was March 8, 2024.

The Fisher Brothers’ City Investment Fund bought a larger parcel that was later subdivided into several tax lots included this one in June 2006 for $90 million and in August 2006 sold a stake to Taconic Partners. The following year, in May 2007, they borrowed $89 million from iStar. Following the Lehman Brothers collapse, the owners lost the property in 2011 to iStar.

In 2015, the city signed a lease with iStar, and in 2016 the property was subdivided into a total of six tax lots.  Safehold Inc. is an affiliate of iStar which focuses on ground leased fee positions.

Georgica Green Ventures and RiseBoro Community Partnership obtained a $165.1 million new construction loan from the NYS Housing Finance Agency and the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Georgica Green Ventures had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Safehold Inc. purchased two properties in two transactions for a total of $59.5 million and had not sold any properties over the same time period.

The property

The parcel has frontage of 169 feet and is 111 feet deep with a total lot size of 21,338 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 $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 not received any significant violations in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Coney Island, The majority, or 68 percent of the 14.4 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 10 percent of the space. In sales, Coney Island has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $303 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 22nd highest in Brooklyn. For development, Coney Island has 1.4 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 13th highest in Brooklyn. It had 1.6 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 11 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of one of the five commercial properties representing 113,115 square feet of the 113,115 square feet. The identified owner is Concern For Independent Living.
On the tax block, there were three new building construction projects totaling 591,282 square feet. The largest is a 205-unit, 216,772 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by iStar Inc. and filed by Jesus Rosado with plans filed October 28, 2022 and permitted June 25, 2024. The second largest is at 2006 Surf Avenue, for a 216-unit, 187,932 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Georgica Green and filed by David Gallo under job number 321725282 with plans filed January 24, 2018 and permitted January 2, 2019.

The majority, or 100 percent of the 113,115 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with industrial buildings next occupying 0 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Safehold Inc. owned at least one commercial property with 180 residential units in New York City with 164,559 square feet and a city-determined market value of $29.6 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio consists of at least a single elevator property. It is located in Brooklyn.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Riseboro Community Partnership owned at least 119 commercial properties with 2,960 residential units in New York City with 3,016,086 square feet and a city-determined market value of $298 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 35 percent of the 3,016,086 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with D6 properties next occupying 35 percent of the space. The bulk, or 52 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Queens next at 42 percent of the space.

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