Joel Schwartz signs $42M refi with Golden Bridge for 227-unit development in East New York

Joel Schwartz through the entity 2700 Atlantic Ny LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender Golden Bridge Funding through the entity Golden Bridge R2 LLC valued at $32.4 million for the development building (V1) at 2700 Atlantic Avenue in East New York, Brooklyn.
On the lot, there is one active new building construction project for a 227-unit, 158,730 square-foot residential (R-2) building. The project was submitted by Joel Schwartz and filed by Joel Schwartz with plans filed September 14, 2020 and permitted May 8, 2023.
The deal closed on March 1, 2024 and was recorded on March 7, 2024. The prior lender was Cross River Bank which held debt that had an original loan amount of $42 million provided in April 2023.
The owner bought the property on May 3, 2022, for $17 million. The signatory for Joel Schwartz was Joel Schwartz. The signatory for Golden Bridge Funding was Haim Dadi. This is a leasehold mortgage.

The property

The development building in East New York has 10,460 square feet of built space and 62,969 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 62,969 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 100 feet and is 106 feet deep with a total lot size of 10,460 square feet. The zoning is M1-4/R8A which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing and up to 6.02 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $501,700. The most recent loan totaled $42 million and was provided by Cross River Bank on April 27, 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 received 11 DOB violations, $54,305 in ECB penalties, and $55,505 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

The neighborhood

In East New York, The bulk, or 40 percent of the 44.5 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with industrial buildings next occupying 21 percent of the space. In sales, East New York has 2 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $592.4 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 8th highest in Brooklyn. For development, East New York is the 9th most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 5 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 11 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of one of the four commercial properties representing 10,460 square feet of the 60,871 square feet. The identified owner is Joel Schwartz.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 227,690 square feet. The largest is a 227-unit, 158,730 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Joel Schwartz and filed by Joel Schwartz with plans filed September 14, 2020 and permitted May 8, 2023. The second largest is a 68,960 square-foot storage (S-1) building submitted by SNL Storage and filed by Michael Jayne with plans filed May 1, 2020 and permitted June 26, 2020.

The majority, or 83 percent of the 60,871 square feet of built space are industrial buildings, with development buildings next occupying 17 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Joel Schwartz owned at least 87 commercial properties with 1,084 residential units in New York City with 1,047,595 square feet and a city-determined market value of $177.8 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $1.1 billion in debt, with top three lenders as BridgeCity Capital, Citibank, and Deutsche Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 57 percent of the 1,047,595 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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