Joel Schwartz gets $8.5M construction loan from BridgeCity Capital

Joel Schwartz through the entity 188 Ainslie LLC as borrower signed a construction loan with lender BridgeCity Capital through the entity Bcc Funding Crf LLC valued at $8.5 million for projects at 188 and 190 Ainslie Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

On these lots, there are two active new building construction projects and major alteration projects with initial costs more than $5 million, totaling 10,075 square feet. The largest is a new building project, B00852223, for an eight-unit, 5,179 square-foot R-2 building submitted by Yisroel Greenfeld and filed by Yisroel Greenfeld with plans filed March 31, 2023 and permitted October 18, 2023. The second largest is a new building project, B00852225, for a seven-unit, 4,896 square-foot R-2 building submitted by Yisroel Greenfeld and filed by Yisroel Greenfeld with plans filed March 31, 2023 and it has not been permitted yet.

The loan closed on February 12, 2024 and was recorded on February 15, 2024. The two properties have 3,568 square feet of built space and 6,637 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 10,198 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $1,429 and the price per buildable square foot is $500 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 property

The parcel has frontage of 25 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 2,499 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 $2.2 million.
The parcel has frontage of 26 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 2,600 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 $1.7 million.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the properties for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have received $7,000 in ECB penalties and $7,100 in OATH penalties in the last year.

The block

On the tax block of 188 Ainslie Street, PincusCo has identified the owners of two of the five commercial properties representing 8,475 square feet of the 14,915 square feet. The two identified owners are Center Street Capital and Nerim Cejaj.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 10,075 square feet. The largest is a eight-unit, 5,179 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Yisroel Greenfeld and filed by Yisroel Greenfeld with plans filed March 31, 2023 and permitted October 18, 2023. The second largest is a seven-unit, 4,896 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Yisroel Greenfeld and filed by Yisroel Greenfeld with plans filed March 31, 2023 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 57 percent of the 14,915 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 43 percent of the space.

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