Joel Schwartz signs $14.2M refi with BridgeCity Capital for 16-unit rental in Williamsburg

Joel Schwartz through the entity 272 South 1st LLC as borrower signed a re loan with lender BridgeCity Capital through the entity BridgeCity Hilltop LLC valued at $14.2 million for the 16-unit residential elevator building (D7) at 272 South 1st Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
The deal closed on April 4, 2025 and was recorded on April 10, 2025. The prior lender was Churchill Real Estate Holdings which held debt that had an original loan amount of $9 million. The property has 19,576 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $722 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 owner bought the property on September 13, 2023, for $4.2 million. The signatory for Joel Schwartz was Joel Schwartz. The signatory for BridgeCity Capital was Louis Lebovits .

The property

The residential elevator building with 16 residential units in Williamsburg has 19,576 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 40 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 4,000 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 $608,000. The most recent loan totaled $9 million and was provided by BridgeCity Capital on September 13, 2023.

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.

Development

On the lot, there is one active new building construction project, B00851344, for a 16-unit, 10,876 square-foot R-2 building. The project was submitted by Yisroel Greenfeld and filed by Yisroel Greenfeld with plans filed March 29, 2023 and permitted January 25, 2024.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 12 of the 18 commercial properties representing 146,085 square feet of the 181,074 square feet. The largest owner is Kraus Organization, followed by Topaz Realty Management and then Halcyon Management Group.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 10,876 square feet. It is a 16-unit, 10,876 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Yisroel Greenfeld and filed by Yisroel Greenfeld with plans filed March 29, 2023 and permitted January 25, 2024.

The majority, or 57 percent of the 181,074 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 31 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Joel Schwartz owned at least 103 commercial properties with 1,685 residential units in New York City with 1,089,611 square feet and a city-determined market value of $186.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $1.4 billion in debt, with top three lenders as BridgeCity Capital, Citibank, and S3 Capital respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 56 percent of the 1,089,611 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 16 percent of the space. They are all located in Brooklyn.

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