Joshua Rubenstein signs $5.3M construction loan with Golden Bridge for 8-unit project in Borough Park

Joshua Rubenstein through the entity Park Living Condos LLC as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender Golden Bridge Funding through the entity Golden Bridge Funding LLC valued at $5.3 million for the midblock development building at 1374 42nd Street in Borough Park, Brooklyn.
The deal closed on March 30, 2022 and was recorded on April 22, 2022. The property has zero square feet of built space and 6,084 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 6,084 square feet according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per buildable square foot is $871 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 July 19, 2016, for $1.6 million. The signatory for Joshua Rubenstein was Joshua Rubenstein. Arye Duv Wertzberger acquired the property for $1.2 million in 2016. It was deeded in a no consideration transfer to an LLC in 2018, then to Rubenstein in a no-consideration transfer simultaneously with this loan. Golden Bridge is an Israel-based lender. 

The property

The 1374 42nd Street parcel has frontage of 25 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 2,504 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 $240,000.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property since September of 2020. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $6,250 in ECB penalties and $6,250 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

On these lots, there is one active new building construction project for an eight-unit, 9,944-square-foot R-2 building. The project was developed by Arye Duv Wertzberger with plans filed January 19, 2017 and permitted December 9, 2021.

The neighborhood

In Borough Park, the bulk, or 46 percent of the 48.6 million square feet of commercial built space are 1-4 family buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 15 percent of the space. In sales, Borough Park has had very little sales volume relative to other neighborhoods with $140.2 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Borough Park has 1.3 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 17th highest in Brooklyn. It had 1.2 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 2 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of one of the 24 commercial properties representing 5,775 square feet of the 100,281 square feet. The identified owner is Josef Roth. There is one active new building construction project totaling 9,944 square feet. It is a eight-unit, 9,944-square-foot R-2 building developed by Arye Duv Wertzberger with plans filed January 19, 2017 and permitted December 9, 2021.

The majority, or 46 percent of the 205,295 square feet of built space are 1-4 family buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 28 percent of the space.

Surrounding

PincusCo has not identified any commercial real estate items of interest within a 400-foot radius of 1374 42nd Street that occurred over the past 24 months.

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