Jacob Schwimmer pays $38M for office in Boerum Hill, possible dev site

Jacob Schwimmer through the entity 540 Atlantic Realty LLC paid $38 million to Gus Papadimitriou through the entity Daily Mirror Associates LLC for the office building (O2) at 540 Atlantic Avenue in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn.
On the lot, there is one active new building construction project for a six-unit, 1,248 square-foot R-2 building. The project was submitted by Sam Teitelbaum with plans filed May 17, 2022 and it has not been permitted yet.
The deal closed on November 29, 2023 and was recorded on December 5, 2023. The property has 76,928 square feet of built space and 36,579 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 113,424 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $493 and the price per buildable square foot is $335 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 Gus Papadimitriou was Gus Papadimitriou. The signatory for Jacob Schwimmer was Jacob Schwimmer. The contract date was June 8, 2023. Jacob Schwimmer also uses the name JCS Realty.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Jacob Schwimmer purchased five properties in four transactions for a total of $54.7 million and sold one property in one transactions for a total of $50 million over the past 24 months.
The seller Gus Papadimitriou had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period. The 76,928-square-foot property generated revenue of $1.7 million or $22 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The office building in Boerum Hill has 76,928 square feet of built space and 36,579 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 113,424 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 150 feet and is 180 feet deep with a total lot size of 28,356 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 city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $7.5 million. The most recent loan totaled 0.0 and was provided by Davis Companies on September 15, 2022.

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 received five DOB violations, $12,500 in ECB penalties, and $13,500 in OATH penalties in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Boerum Hill, The bulk, or 32 percent of the 9 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 16 percent of the space. In sales, Boerum Hill has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $344.2 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 23rd highest in Brooklyn. For development, Boerum Hill has 1.8 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 10th highest in Brooklyn. It had 1.8 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 20 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of eight of the 17 commercial properties representing 172,050 square feet of the 227,328 square feet. The largest owner is Sterling Town Equities, followed by Muhammad Abbas and then Mark Schildkraut.
On the tax block, there were five new building construction projects totaling 284,102 square feet. The largest is a 62-unit, 80,138 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Adam America Real Estate and filed by Josh Zucker with plans filed May 15, 2017 and permitted June 26, 2018. The second largest is a 43-unit, 67,572 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Sterling Town Equities and filed by Paul Amit with plans filed June 19, 2019 and permitted January 22, 2021.

The majority, or 34 percent of the 227,328 square feet of built space are office buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 32 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Gus Papadimitriou owned at least one commercial property in New York City with 76,928 square feet and a city-determined market value of $7.5 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio consists of at least a single office property. It is located in Brooklyn.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Jacob Schwimmer owned at least 16 commercial properties with 898 residential units in New York City with 777,940 square feet and a city-determined market value of $132.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $323.1 million in debt, with top three lenders as Valley National Bank, Spruce Capital, and Bank Leumi respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 46 percent of the 777,940 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with office properties next occupying 39 percent of the space. The bulk, or 62 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Bronx next at 38 percent of the space.

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