Mortar Group signs $10M refi loan with Hirshmark for 10-unit elevator building in Williamsburg

Mortar Group through the entity 340 Metropolitan LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender Hirshmark Capital through the entity 340 Metropolitan Ave Funding LLC valued at $10 million for the midblock 10-unit residential elevator building at 342 Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
The deal closed on March 24, 2022 and was recorded on April 1, 2022. The prior lender was DR Bank which held debt that had an original loan amount of $5.1 million.The property has 12,960 square feet of built space according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $771 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 June 14, 2018, for $4.8 million. The signatory for Mortar Group was Anthony Morena. The signatory for Hirshmark Capital was Mark Levin. Anthony Morena is the principal of Mortar Group.

The property

The 342 Metropolitan Avenue parcel has frontage of 41 feet and is 92 feet deep with a total lot size of 3,472 square feet. The zoning is M1-2/R6A which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing and up to 3 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $464,000.The most recent loan totaled $5.1 million and was provided by DR Bank on May 27, 2021.

Violations and lawsuits

The property was not involved in any lawsuits or bankruptcies in the past years. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received three DOB violations, $29,960 in ECB penalties in the last year.

Development

On these lots, there is one active new building construction project for a 10-unit, 12,960-square-foot R-2 building. The project was developed by Shawn Robinson with plans filed April 2, 2018 and permitted March 3, 2020.

The neighborhood

In Williamsburg, the bulk, or 35 percent of the 65.1 million square feet of commercial built space are residential elevator buildings, with residential walkup buildings next occupying 19 percent of the space. In sales, Williamsburg has the 9th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $1.4 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Williamsburg is the 6th most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 5.1 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 8 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There were three pre-foreclosure suit filed among other residential elevator buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of six of the 16 commercial properties representing 161,005 square feet of the 208,332 square feet. The largest owner is Calmwater Capital, followed by Salvatore Mendolia and then Solomon Cohen. There is one active new building construction project totaling 12,960 square feet. It is a 10-unit, 12,960-square-foot R-2 building developed by Shawn Robinson with plans filed April 2, 2018 and permitted March 3, 2020.

The majority, or 64 percent of the 217,584 square feet of built space are residential elevator buildings, with residential walkup buildings next occupying 18 percent of the space.

Surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 342 Metropolitan Avenue, PincusCo identified 10 commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months.
Of those 10 items, three were for major renovation including a certificate of occupancy change. They were one permit applications with a total initial cost of $1.7 million, one permit with a total initial cost of $495,800 and one initial temporary certificate of occupancy issuance for a project that initially costed $1 million. The most recent of these three items was the filing on March 23, 2022 for a 111,646-square-foot R-2 building with seven residential units at 19 Hope Street.
Of those 10 items, two were sales above $5 million totaling $88.3 million. The most recent of the two was Calmwater Capital which bought the 104,661-square-foot, 52-unit rental (D2) on 143 Roebling Street for $82.7 million from RedSky Capital on January 14, 2022.
Of those 10 items, five were loans above $5 million totaling $128.6 million. The most recent of the five was Daniel H. Miller which borrowed $7.2 million from New York Community Bank secured by the 7,150-square-foot, 14-unit rental (C7) on 298 Metropolitan Avenue and one other property on March 8, 2022.

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