Jacob Schwimmer pays $70M to Extell for dev site in East Harlem, gets $155M loan

Jacob Schwimmer through the entity 180 E125 Propco LLC paid $70 million to Extell Development through the entity 160 East 125th Owner LLC for the development building (V1) at 180 East 125th Street in East Harlem, Manhattan. The expected use is new construction.
PincusCo reported on the transaction after it went into contract, indicating the buyer might be Jacob Schwimmer, but it was not confirmed at the time.
The deal closed on November 25, 2024 and was recorded on December 13, 2024. The property has zero square feet of built space and 256,090 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 256,090 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per buildable square foot is $273 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 seller bought the property on September 15, 2014, for $10 million. The signatory for Extell Development was Mark Kwestel. The signatory for Jacob Schwimmer was Jacob Schwimmer. The contract date was July 1, 2024. Jacob Schwimmer also uses the company name JCS Realty Group.

Lender Kennedy Wilson provided a $155 million construction loan to finance acquisition and development.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Jacob Schwimmer purchased three properties in three transactions for a total of $44.8 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Extell Development purchased three properties in three transactions for a total of $210.8 million and sold eight properties in eight transactions for a total of $376.2 million over the same time period.

The property

The parcel has frontage of 240 feet and is 201 feet deep with a total lot size of 42,540 square feet. The zoning is C4-4D which allows for up to 3.4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 6.02 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $3.5 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 received $1,250 in ECB penalties and $1,580 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

On the lot, there is one active new building construction project, 121207504, for a 354,350 square-foot B building. The project was submitted by Extell Development and filed by David Rothstein with plans filed April 8, 2020 and permitted January 14, 2022.

The neighborhood

In East Harlem, The majority, or 51 percent of the 52.4 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 21 percent of the space. In sales, East Harlem has 1.8 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $450.3 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 21st highest in Manhattan. For development, East Harlem has 2 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 16th highest in Manhattan. It had 2.1 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 4 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 10 of the 16 commercial properties representing 32,187 square feet of the 219,877 square feet. The largest owner is Maddd Equities, followed by Metropolitan Transportation Authority and then Durst Organization.
On the tax block, there were four new building construction projects totaling 499,327 square feet. The largest is a 354,350 square-foot business (B) building submitted by Extell Development and filed by David Rothstein with plans filed April 8, 2020 and permitted January 14, 2022. The second largest is a 73-unit, 134,423 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Maddd Equities and filed by Jorge Madruga with plans filed November 19, 2024 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 62 percent of the 219,877 square feet of built space are specialty buildings, with industrial buildings next occupying 21 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Extell Development owned at least 65 commercial properties with 651 residential units in New York City with 2,776,081 square feet and a city-determined market value of $788.8 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $7.1 billion in debt, with top three lenders as Guggenheim Partners, Blackstone Group, and JVP Management respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 39 percent of the 2,776,081 square feet of built space are specialty properties, with elevator properties next occupying 21 percent of the space. The bulk, or 96 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 4 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Jacob Schwimmer owned at least 19 commercial properties with 1,346 residential units in New York City with 900,444 square feet and a city-determined market value of $142 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $797.5 million in debt, with top three lenders as MF1 Capital, Valley National Bank, and S3 Capital respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 43 percent of the 900,444 square feet of built space are office properties, with elevator properties next occupying 40 percent of the space. The bulk, or 63 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Bronx next at 37 percent of the space.

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