Jonas Equities signs $57.9M loan with Citibank for five properties in Brooklyn

Jonas Equities through the entity 724 East 27th Street LLC as borrower signed a loan with lender Citibank through the entity Citi Real Estate Funding Inc. valued at $57.9 million for five properties with 384 residential units including the 121-unit residential elevator building (D1) at 2355 East 12th Street in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, 99-unit residential elevator building (D1) at 115 Ocean Avenue in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn, and 54-unit residential elevator building (D1) at 134-140 Ocean Parkway in Kensington, Brooklyn.
The deal closed on January 29, 2025 and was recorded on March 4, 2025. Prior lenders included Blackstone Group.

The five properties have 416,344 square feet of built space and 21,150 square feet of additional air rights according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $138 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 Jonas Equities was Lawrence Bernstein . The signatory for Citibank was Jonathan Misher .

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 2355 East 12th Street.

Prior sales and revenue

The owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Terry Bernstein, head officer and Lawrence Bernstein, officer. The business entities are Jonas Equities Inc. and Buddy Properties , Llc. The five properties with a total of 416,344 square feet of built space generated revenue of $8.1 million per year or $19 per square foot.

The property

The residential elevator building with 121 residential units in Sheepshead Bay has 416,344 square feet of built space and 21,150 square feet of additional air rights according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 183 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 36,325 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R4 which allows for up to 0.75 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $9.6 million. The property has 116 rent regulated units according to city tax records from 2022.

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 $4,725 in ECB penalties, 141 housing violations, $8,215 in OATH penalties, and one housing litigation in the last year.

Development

For the tax lot buildings, two out of the five buildings received a initial certificate of occupancy in the last ten years. There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $1 million on this tax lot.

The block

There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 94 percent of the 210,512 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 6 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Jonas Equities owned at least seven commercial properties with 797 residential units in New York City with 839,983 square feet and a city-determined market value of $95.5 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $10.4 million in debt, borrowed from Signature Bank. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 67 percent of the 839,983 square feet of built space are D4 properties, with elevator properties next occupying 33 percent of the space. They are all located in Brooklyn.

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