Joel Schwartz pays $3.5M for 8-unit dev site in Williamsburg

Developer Joel Schwartz through the entity 333 Bedford Ave LLC paid $3.5 million to David Ruiz and Benito Ruiz for the vacant lot at 333 Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

On the lot, there is one active new building construction project for a eight-unit, 9,743 square-foot R-2 building. The project was submitted by Yisroel Greenfeld and filed by Yisroel Greenfeld with plans filed March 27, 2023 and it has not been permitted yet.

The deal closed on October 31, 2023 and was recorded on November 8, 2023. The property has 1,200 square feet of built space and 4,843 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 6,036 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $2,916 and the price per buildable square foot is $579 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 David Ruiz and Benito Ruiz was David Ruiz and Benito Ruiz. The signatory for Joel Schwartz was Joel Schwartz. The contract date was September 7, 2022.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Joel Schwartz purchased 20 properties in 17 transactions for a total of $79.5 million and sold 25 properties in 22 transactions for a total of $239.5 million over the past 24 months.
The seller David Ruiz had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period.

The property

The industrial building in Williamsburg has 1,200 square feet of built space and 4,843 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 6,036 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 24 feet and is 103 feet deep with a total lot size of 2,484 square feet. The zoning is R6 which allows for up to 2.43 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $113,000.

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 not received any significant violations in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Williamsburg, The bulk, or 39 percent of the 50.4 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 25 percent of the space. In sales, Williamsburg has the 3rd highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $2.7 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Williamsburg is the 9th most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 4.2 million 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.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of three of the 11 commercial properties representing 65,298 square feet of the 170,369 square feet. The largest owner is Southside United H.D.F.C., followed by Joshua Wagschal and then Chany Jacobowitz.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 9,743 square feet. It is a eight-unit, 9,743 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Yisroel Greenfeld and filed by Yisroel Greenfeld with plans filed March 27, 2023 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 42 percent of the 170,369 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 31 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Joel Schwartz owned at least 80 commercial properties with 1,046 residential units in New York City with 1,009,523 square feet and a city-determined market value of $173.7 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $918.1 million in debt, with top three lenders as BridgeCity Capital, Citibank, and Popular Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 57 percent of the 1,009,523 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 17 percent of the space. They are all located in Brooklyn.

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