Lucas Popaj signs $10M refi with Wells Fargo for 34-unit rental in Belmont
Lucas Popaj through the entity 773 Grote LLC as borrower signed a loan with lender Wells Fargo valued at $10 million for the 34-unit residential elevator building (D1) at 773 Grote Street in Belmont, Bronx.
The deal closed on June 7, 2024 and was recorded on June 18, 2024. The property has 22,976 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $435 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 April 18, 2022, for $1.5 million.
Prior sales and revenue
The 22,976-square-foot property generated revenue of $71,636 or $3 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.
The property
The parcel has frontage of 50 feet and is 125 feet deep with a total lot size of 6,249 square feet. The zoning is R7-1 which allows for up to 3.44 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $673,000. The most recent loan totaled $6.5 million and was provided by NorthEast Community Bank on April 20, 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 $15,000 in ECB penalties and $15,180 in OATH penalties in the last year.
Development
On the lot, there are two active new building construction projects and major alteration projects with initial costs more than $5 million, totaling 37,942 square feet. The largest is a new building project for a 34-unit, 22,921 square-foot R-2 building submitted by Luce Popaj and filed by Luce Popaj with plans filed April 28, 2022 and permitted December 10, 2022. The second largest is a new building project for a 34-unit, 15,021 square-foot R-2 building submitted by Leo Brody with plans filed December 21, 2021 and it has not been permitted yet.
The block
On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of four of the five commercial properties representing 229,605 square feet of the 236,105 square feet. The largest owner is City Of New York, followed by Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation and then Mosleh M. Al-Sadi.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 37,942 square feet. The largest is a 34-unit, 22,921 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Luce Popaj and filed by Luce Popaj with plans filed April 28, 2022 and permitted December 10, 2022. The second largest is a 34-unit, 15,021 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Leo Brody with plans filed December 21, 2021 and it has not been permitted yet.
The majority, or 88 percent of the 236,105 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 12 percent of the space.
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