Louis Greco Jr. puts $25M Columbia Street condo in bankruptcy

Louis Greco Jr. filed a bankruptcy petition yesterday to gain breathing room and identify additional financing for a mostly-completed residential condominium project at 63 Columbia Street in the Columbia Street Waterfront District near Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. Greco originally filed plans in 2014 for the new construction, 11-unit building which is 75 percent to 80 percent complete, the petition said. Greco states in the petition its possible the units can sell for $25 million or more.

Today the property is worth just $11.1 million, according to a September 2023 appraisal cited in the filing. The secured lender is Romspen, which provided a loan with an original principal of $14.7 million, of which $13.4 million has been funded, the petition says.

The petition lists a large number of unsecured creditors, a half dozen in the form of loans for just over $37,000. The total listed secured and unsecured liabilities total approximately $23.6 million, and Greco projects the total sellout could top $25 million, although the most recent price with the Attorney General is $22.8 million.

According to the petition, “The debtor owns a condominium development project at 63 Columbia Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201 (the “Property”), which is approximately 75%-80% complete. The Property is being built to house eleven (11) residential condominium units (the “Project”) having a total sale close out value of approximately $25 million or more.

“The Property is located near the waterfront in the Cobble Hill area of Brooklyn, and is situated in a desirable school district. The Project was conceived to be desirable to young families. The Debtor has already obtained Attorney General approval for the Condominium…

“The Debtor cannot close without the certificate of occupancy, but it can ender into contracts of sale providing for closings to take place after the certificate of occupancy is issued.”

The property was appraised in September 2023 by CBRE Valuation and Advisory Services with the as is condition at $11.1 million. To complete construction, Greco says he needs a $3.5 million DIP loan, and he is in talks with the senior lender, but the senior lender wants more equity injected. If Greco can’t get funding from the senior lender, he will look to new lenders, which if obtained could result, the petition says, in a cramdown.

Greco “has emphasized throughout the discussions with the senior lender that it is playing Russian roulette with its collateral, because delays related to completion of the Project are not beneficial to anyone… The Debtor is willing to discuss a change in control in connection with a DIP loan. In sum, from the Debtor’s perspective, all possibilities are in play and, hopefully, the give and take of Chapter 11 will prove to be an elixir for the Debtor’s ills.”

Louis V. Greco Jr. of 63 Columbia LLC submitted a new building construction project for a 10-unit, 14,219 square-foot residential (R-2) building at 63 Columbia Street in Columbia Waterfront, Brooklyn. The plan was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings on October 6, 2014 under job number 320913231 and was permitted on April 5, 2018. It calls for the construction of a five-story building. The project is described in the filing as: proposed a new five-story with cellar residential building consists of 10-dwelling unit as per plan. obtain a new c of o.

Prior sales and revenue

This property was sold for $3.4 million on January 30, 2015.

Development

On the tax lot, the most recent condominium plan was filed by SDS COLCON OWNER LLC to create 10 residential units in a building at 63 Columbia Street in Columbia Waterfront, Brooklyn, called 63 Columbia Street Condominium that has a $22.8 million sellout, according to an January 23, 2020 submission to the New York State Attorney General. The principal of the sponsor, SDS COLCON OWNER LLC, was Louis Greco, Jr..

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has received one DOB violation, $8,750 in ECB penalties, and $8,750 in OATH penalties in the last year.

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months.

The neighborhood

In Columbia Waterfront, The bulk, or 39 percent of the 919,529 square feet of commercial built space are mixed-use buildings, with industrial buildings next occupying 25 percent of the space. In sales, Columbia Waterfront has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $73.1 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 41st highest in Brooklyn. For development, Columbia Waterfront has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 44th highest in Brooklyn. It had 28,791 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 3 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of three of the eight commercial properties representing 31,044 square feet of the 56,302 square feet. The largest owner is Jonathan Holman, followed by Louis V. Greco, Jr. and then RNS Holdings. On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 27,117 square feet. The largest is a 10-unit, 14,219 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Louis Greco with plans filed October 6, 2014 and permitted April 5, 2018. The second largest is a 10-unit, 12,898 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Shiraz Sanjana with plans filed February 7, 2020 and permitted June 9, 2022.

The owner

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Louis V. Greco, Jr. owned at least one commercial property with 10 residential units in New York City with 18,746 square feet and a city-determined market value of $3.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio consists of at least a single walkup property. It is located in Brooklyn.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 67 Columbia Street, PincusCo identified two commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those two items, one was in new building development. It was a new building permit issued on June 9, 2022 for a 12,898-square-foot residential (R-2) building with 10 residential units at 76 Congress Street. One of those two items was a loan which RNS Holdings borrowed $8.6 million from Preferred Bank secured by the 6,695-square-foot, one-unit industrial (E1) on 74 Congress Street on December 23, 2021.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.