Orange Management buys out partner at dev site in Gowanus through $21M transaction

Orange Management through the entity Orange Gowanus LLC acquired an interest from Eyal Ben-Yosef valued at $21 million for the development site at 125 3rd Street in Gowanus, Brooklyn. This transaction reflects the resolution of a lawsuit Orange Management brought in February 2023. In that case, Orange Management, a partner in a joint venture that owns 123 3rd Street in Gowanus, Brooklyn, sought to purchase the property from its partners instead of selling the property to Rotem Rosen’s MRR Capital for $27.5 million. The partnership bought the site in February 2022 for $21.6 million, according to property records.

The partner, Andrew Bradfield and his company Orange Management, wanted to buy out partners Yossi Ariel and Paul Amit of Sterling Town Equities and Eyal Ben-Yosef, giving them the amount Bradfield claims their ownership agreement outlines for such a buyout, but at least one of the other partners had refused, blocking the buyout. This transaction reflects a buyout of Eyal Ben-Yosef’s stake, and possibly that of the other partners as well.

Orange Management submitted a new building construction project for an 84-unit, 73,135 square-foot residential (R-2) building at 129 3rd Street. The plan was filed on November 15, 2021. It calls for the construction of a 147-foot tall, 14-story building and was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings under job number B00621533. The architect is Colberg Architecture.

This sale closed on September 12, 2023 and was recorded on September 13, 2023.

The signatory for Eyal Ben-Yosef was Eyal Ben-Yosef. The signatory for Orange Management was Andrew Bradfield.

The Real Deal reported on the court case Bradfield brought against Rotem Rosen, which said Rotem Rosen offered to buy the site for $27.5 million, and Eyal Benjofef who owned a 70 percent stake, want to sell, but Orange Management did not, and had a right to buy at the Rosen price.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has a record that the buyer Orange Management had purchased this property for $21.6 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.

The property

The industrial building in Gowanus has 17,050 square feet of built space and 52,980 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 70,096 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 157 feet and is 190 feet deep with a total lot size of 20,377 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is M1-4/R7-2 which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing and up to 3.44 times FAR for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $272,000. The most recent loan totaled $16 million and was provided by Maxim Capital Group on February 25, 2022.

Violations and lawsuits

The property was involved in one lawsuit and zero bankruptcies over the past two years. The suit was a $27.5 million judgment concerning a partnership filed on February 22, 2023, by Orange Management and Andrew Bradfield against Sterling Town Equities, Yossi Ariel, Paul Amit, and Eyal Ben-Yosef. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $3,000 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

On the lot, there is one active new building construction project for a 84-unit, 73,135 square-foot R-2 building. The project was submitted by Orange Management and filed by Andrew Bradfield with plans filed November 15, 2021 and permitted May 13, 2022.

The neighborhood

In Gowanus, The bulk, or 46 percent of the 9.2 million square feet of commercial built space are industrial buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 19 percent of the space. In sales, Gowanus has 1.8 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $641.3 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 8th highest in Brooklyn. For development, Gowanus is the 6th most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 4.6 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 50 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There were two pre-foreclosure suit filed among other industrial buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of three of the seven commercial properties representing 52,050 square feet of the 71,135 square feet. The two identified owners are Monadnock Development and Ido Paul Amit.
On the tax block, there were three new building construction projects totaling 365,649 square feet. The largest is a 301-unit, 265,987 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Monadnock Development and filed by Frank Dubinsky with plans filed December 8, 2021 and permitted April 13, 2022. The second largest is a 84-unit, 73,135 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Orange Management and filed by Andrew Bradfield with plans filed November 15, 2021 and permitted May 13, 2022.

The majority, or 52 percent of the 71,135 square feet of built space are office buildings, with industrial buildings next occupying 39 percent of the space.

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