Mortar Group signs $10.2M new construction loan with DR Bank for office in Williamsburg

Mortar Group through the entity Bushwick Mg LLC as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender DR Bank valued at $10.2 million for the office building (O1) at 30 Bushwick Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

On the lot, there is one active new building construction project for a 21-unit, 19,223 square-foot R-2 building. The project was developed by Ari Harkov with plans filed January 14, 2022 and it has not been permitted yet.
The loan closed on November 30, 2022 and was recorded on December 12, 2022.
The owner bought the property on May 3, 2022, for $2.4 million. The signatory for Mortar Group was Anthony Morena.

Prior sales and revenue

The 1,159-square-foot property generated revenue of $27,132 or $23 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

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 $12,400 in ECB penalties and $12,700 in OATH penalties in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Williamsburg, the bulk, or 39 percent of the 50 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 25 percent of the space. In sales, Williamsburg has the 6th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $2.1 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Williamsburg is the 7th 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 10 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There were two pre-foreclosure suit filed among other office buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of two of the four commercial properties representing 10,587 square feet of the 11,746 square feet. The two identified owners are Broadway Stages and Manjula Mukhopadhyay.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 19,223 square feet. It is a 21-unit, 19,223-square-foot R-2 building developed by Ari Harkov with plans filed January 14, 2022 and permitted November 18, 2022.

The majority, or 90 percent of the 11,746 square feet of built space are mixed-use buildings, with office buildings next occupying 10 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Mortar Group owned at least one commercial property in New York City with 12,960 square feet and a city-determined market value of $464,000. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $10 million in debt, borrowed from Hirshmark Capital. The portfolio consists of at least a single elevator property. It is located in Brooklyn.

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