GW Equities pays $4.7M for church building in Greenpoint

GW Equities, led by Berish Wagschal and Avraham Garbo through the entity GW Russell LLC paid $4.7 million to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America through the entity MNYS 129 Russell LLC for the Park Church Co-Op building (M1) at 129 Russell Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The expected use is conversion and alteration. The building faces McGolrick Park.
GW Equities obtained a $7.6 million acquisition and construction loan from S3 Capital.

The contract was signed November 22, 2022, and the closing date was dependent on court approval. The agreement was disclosed in a petition the church made to obtain the court’s consent to sell the property, which is required for the sale of substantial holdings of a nonprofit. LINK
Berish Wagschal, under the name Barry Wagschal, filed an alteration job under the number B01019860 to create 10 residential units in the building.

Some groups and individuals opposed the sale of the building which had been used by the community for several years as a performance space, day care a soup kitchen, as The City reported last August.
The sale closed on August 15, 2024 and was recorded on August 20, 2024. The property has 5,400 square feet of built space and 6,598 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 11,998 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $870 and the price per buildable square foot is $391 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 signatory for Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was John Litke. The signatory for GW Equities was Avraham Garbo. The contract date was November 29, 2022.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Avraham Garbo purchased two properties in two transactions for a total of $4.7 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Evangelical Lutheran Church in America had not purchased any other properties and sold three properties in two transactions for a total of $8.1 million over the same time period.

The property

The specialty building with 6 residential units in Greenpoint has 5,400 square feet of built space and 6,598 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 11,998 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 60 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 5,999 square feet. The zoning is R6B which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $847,000.

Violations and lawsuits

The property was involved in one court action and zero bankruptcies over the past two years. The court action was a $4.7 million judgment concerning a leave to sell filed on June 28, 2023, by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with GW Equities and Abe Garbo as the buyer. In addition, according to city public data, the property has not received any significant violations in the last year.

Development

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 Greenpoint, The bulk, or 29 percent of the 23.8 million square feet of commercial built space are walkup buildings, with industrial buildings next occupying 26 percent of the space. In sales, Greenpoint has 2.6 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $675.1 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 5th highest in Brooklyn. For development, Greenpoint has 1.5 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 8th highest in Brooklyn. It had 1.7 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 7 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 30 of the 38 commercial properties representing 146,364 square feet of the 175,302 square feet. The largest owner is Jasmin Markasevic, followed by Franciszek Niedzielski and then Ink Property Group.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 71 percent of the 175,302 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 29 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Avraham Garbo owned at least six commercial properties with 37 residential units in New York City with 29,403 square feet and a city-determined market value of $7.4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $6 million in debt, borrowed from S3 Capital. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 74 percent of the 29,403 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with mixed-use properties next occupying 13 percent of the space. They are all located in Brooklyn.

Direct link to Acris document. link