Nonprofit WellLife Network pays $8.7M for likely dev site in Brownsville

WellLife Network, a nonprofit, paid $8.7 million for a likely development site in Brownsville, Brooklyn, including 121 to 143 Osborn Street and 148-152 Watkins Street from the Russell and Brian Fedele, in two transactions.

In the first, WellLife Network through the entity Osborn Street Housing Development Fund Corporation paid $5.2 million to Russell Fedele and Brian Fedele through the entity Fedele Properties, LLC for the industrial building (E1) at 135 Osborn Street, the industrial building (E1) at 133 Osborn Street, and the industrial building (E9) at 141-143 Osborn Street in Brownsville, Brooklyn. The expected use is ground up development.
The deal closed on April 22, 2025 and was recorded on May 6, 2025. The six properties have 4,916 square feet of built space and 46,897 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 51,822 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $1,067 and the price per buildable square foot is $101 per the PincusCo analysis.

In the second, WellLife Network through the entity Osborn Street Housing Development Fund Corporation paid $3.5 million to Russell Fedele and Brian Fedele through the entity 127-129 Osborn Street, LLC for the industrial building (E9) at 129 Osborn Street in Brownsville, Brooklyn, industrial building (G7) at 127 Osborn Street in Brownsville, Brooklyn, and industrial building (G7) at 123 Osborn Street in Brownsville, Brooklyn.
The deal closed on April 22, 2025 and was recorded on May 5, 2025. The four properties have 1,400 square feet of built space and 38,600 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 40,000 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $2,500 and the price per buildable square foot is $87 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 signatory for Russell Fedele and Brian Fedele was Russell Fedele and Brian Fedele. The signatory for WellLife Network was Sherry Tucker . The contract date was September 11, 2024.

Because multiple properties have been transacted, some of the following sections will follow the property with the largest assessed value, which in this case, is the property on 135 Osborn Street.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer WellLife Network purchased five properties in two transactions for a total of $15 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Russell Fedele had not purchased any other properties and sold four properties in one transaction for a total of $3.5 million over the same time period. Out of the six properties, two with a total of 4,916 square feet of built space generated revenue of $92,534 per year.

The property

The industrial building in Brownsville has 4,916 square feet of built space and 46,897 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 51,822 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 25 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 2,500 square feet. The zoning is R7A which allows for up to 4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $267,000.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the properties for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have not received any significant violations in the last year.

Development

There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $1 million on this tax lot.

The neighborhood

In Brownsville, The bulk, or 46 percent of the 28.6 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 21 percent of the space. In sales, Brownsville has had very little sales volume relative to other neighborhoods with $172.6 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Brownsville has 1.5 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 8th highest in Brooklyn. It had 1.8 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 6 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On the tax block of 135 Osborn Street, PincusCo has identified the owners of four of the 28 commercial properties representing 1,400 square feet of the 65,493 square feet. The identified owner is WellLife Network.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 65 percent of the 65,493 square feet of built space are retail buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 26 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that WellLife Network owned at least eight commercial properties with 66 residential units in New York City with 9,880 square feet and a city-determined market value of $4.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 70 percent of the 9,880 square feet of built space are M1 properties, with V1 properties next occupying 16 percent of the space. The bulk, or 86 percent of the built space, is in Bronx, with Brooklyn next at 14 percent of the space.

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