Hirshmark buys $2.7M note secured by Sugar Hill Capital walkup in Harlem

Hirshmark Capital through the entity 230 West 116 Funding LLC bought a note with an original principal of $2.7 million from Signature Bank secured by Sugar Hill Capital Partners’s 13-unit residential walkup building (C7) at 230 West 116th Street in Harlem, Manhattan.
The deal closed on December 20, 2022 and was recorded on January 9, 2023. The prior lender was Signature Bank which held debt that had an original loan amount of $2.7 million. The property has 9,858 square feet of built space and 770 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 10,632 square feet according to PincusCo analysis of city data.
The owner bought the property on December 10, 2018, for $4.1 million.

Prior sales and revenue

The owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Scott Castellano, head officer and Lauren Whitehead, site manager. The business entity is 230 West 116th Owner, Llc. The 9,858-square-foot property generated revenue of $259,067 or $26 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The 230 West 116th Street parcel has frontage of 25 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 2,658 square feet. The zoning is R7A which allows for up to 4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $918,000.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property since September of 2020. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received 52 housing violations, $250 in OATH penalties, and one housing litigation in the last year.

Development

There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $5 million on this tax lot.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 15 of the 34 commercial properties representing 227,925 square feet of the 400,382 square feet. The largest owner is Sugar Hill Capital Partners, followed by Ryan Pedram and then JACOB MEKLES of MITCHELL ENTERPRISES.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 61 percent of the 400,001 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 31 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Sugar Hill Capital Partners owned at least 87 commercial properties in New York City with 1,672,043 square feet and a city-determined market value of $211 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $150.9 million in debt, with top three lenders as Signature Bank, Citibank, and New York Community Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 52 percent of the 1,672,043 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with elevator properties next occupying 37 percent of the space. The bulk, or 71 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 29 percent of the space.

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