JEMB Realty, CanAm get $135M Wells Fargo construction loan for 350-unit project in Windsor Terrace

JEMB Realty and CanAm Capital Partners through the entity 312 Coney Island Avenue LLC as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender Wells Fargo valued at $135 million for a 350-unit development project slated for two properties including 312 Coney Island Avenue and at 11 Ocean Parkway in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn.
On these lots, JEMB filed plans for a 375-unit, 395,762-square-foot residential (R-2) building. The project was filed by Morris Jerome of JEMB with plans filed September 16, 2021 and it has not been permitted yet.

A remediation document dated February 2022 described the project this way: “The future use of the Site will consist of a 397,567 gross square foot (gsf) mixed-use building containing 38,242 gsf of community facility uses, 4,198 gsf of retail and 355,128 gsf of residential uses. The residential component will include 350 dwelling units (average 1,000 gsf per unit) and 88 affordable units under Option 1 of the mandatory inclusionary housing (MIH) program.”

The financing deal closed on July 29, 2022 and was recorded on August 5, 2022.
The signatory for JEMB Realty and CanAm Capital Partners was Morris Jerome. The representatives for Wells Fargo were John O’Loughlin and Nicola Ramsay-Palmer. Walter Gindin was listed as the contact for CanAm Capital Partners, an affiliate of the EB-5 conduit, CanAm Enterprises.

Because multiple properties have been transacted, some of the following sections will follow the property with the largest assessed value, which in this case, is the property on 312 Coney Island Avenue.

The property

The 312 Coney Island Avenue parcel has frontage of 97 feet and is 225 feet deep with a total lot size of 28,550 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R8A which allows for up to 6.02 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $3.7 million.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the properties since September of 2020. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have received one DOB violation, $34,800 in ECB penalties, and $39,800 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

On these lots, there is one active new building construction project for a 375-unit, 395,762-square-foot R-2 building. The project was developed by Morris Jerome with plans filed September 16, 2021 and it has not been permitted yet.

The neighborhood

In Windsor Terrace, the bulk, or 42 percent of the 2.6 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 28 percent of the space. In sales, Windsor Terrace has the 44th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in Brooklyn with $27.4 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Windsor Terrace has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 210,205 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 8 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

Direct link to Acris document. link