Golden Bridge files $10.7M pre-foreclosure for Prospect Heights dev site

Golden Bridge Funding filed a $10.7 million pre-foreclosure action yesterday against the owners of the development site at 482 Saint Johns Place and 419 Lincoln Place in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. The lender filed the complaint in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, with the index number 1:23-cv-05264-FB-JRC.

The property owners, Joseph Rubin and Shmuel Haikins, bought the development site for $17 million in May 2022.

Ahron Gluck submitted a new building construction project for a 34-unit, 15,440 square-foot residential (R-2) building at 421 Lincoln Place. The plan was filed on May 11, 2022. It calls for the construction of a 80-foot tall, eight-story building and was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings under job number B00734162. The architect is Baobab Architects P.C. The project is described in the filing as: proposed new 8 store residential use building.

According to the pre-foreclosure complaint, “On May 17, 2022, Golden Bridge R1 LLC d/b/a Golden Bridge Funding (“Golden Bridge R1”) loaned Borrower the principal sum of $10,700,000.00, Borrower failed to pay required interest payments due and owing under the Loan Documents to Plaintiff on April 1, 2023 and thereafter… Plaintiff provided notice of default to Borrower by letter dated May 17, 2023…”

The property

The parcel has frontage of 25 feet and is 125 feet deep with a total lot size of 7,775 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R7A which allows for up to 4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The most recent loan totaled $10.7 million and was provided by Golden Bridge Funding on May 17, 2022.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has not received any significant violations in the last year.

The property was involved in two lawsuits and zero bankruptcies over the past two years. The highest value suit was a $8.1 million money judgment concerning a partnership filed on May 25, 2023, by Bernard Manies, Boruch Manies, Fred Schwartz, and Susan Hoffman against Yonah Grunhut, Alexander Grunhut, Joseph Rubin, Samuel Haikins, and Yoni Lefkowitz.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 12 of the 25 commercial properties representing 212,861 square feet of the 270,788 square feet. The largest owner is Elias Wilson, followed by FBE Limited and then Howard Katz. On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 39,665 square feet. The largest is a 34-unit, 24,225 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Ahron Gluck and filed by Ahron Gluck with plans filed March 29, 2022 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a 30-unit, 15,440 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Ahron Gluck and filed by Ahron Gluck with plans filed May 11, 2022 and it has not been permitted yet.

The owner

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Joseph Rubin owned at least two commercial properties with three residential units in New York City with 2,589 square feet and a city-determined market value of None. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 100 percent of the 2,589 square feet of built space are C0 properties, with industrial properties next occupying 0 percent of the space. They are all located in Brooklyn.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 421 Lincoln Place, PincusCo identified four commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those four items, one was in new building development. It was a new building permit application filed on March 29, 2022 for a 24,225-square-foot residential (R-2) building with 34 residential units at 480 St Johns Place. Of those four items, one was for major renovation including a certificate of occupancy change. It was a permit issued on April 21, 2023 for the $316,400 renovation of 5,897-square-foot residential (R-2) building with 12 residential units at 811 Classon Avenue. One of those four items was a sale which FBE Limited bought the 47,925-square-foot, 60-unit rental (D5) on 458 Saint Johns Place for $30.5 million from Mendel Kaff on December 6, 2022. One of those four items was a loan which Kupferman family borrowed $10.2 million from Cross River Bank secured by the 9,938-square-foot, nine-unit rental (C1) on 429 Lincoln Place and two other properties on May 9, 2022.

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