Pre-foreclosure roundup: Santander sues Watermark for $47M; Flagstar sues ABJ for $15.5M

Santander sues Watermark for $47M: Santander Bank through the entity SIG RCRS A/B MF 2023 Venture LLC, filed a foreclosure action in Kings County Supreme Court on May 8, 2026, against Three Two One, LLC, an affiliate of Watermark Capital Group and several individual guarantors including Wolfe Landau and Meir D. Tabak, alleging a $47 million loan secured by a leasehold interest in the 130-unit rental building at 321 Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, was in a technical default.

The bank does not allege the $47 million loan, is in a payment or maturity default. Instead, the bank alleges a second mortgage for $1.5 million is in a maturity default since late 2025. According to the complaint, the litigation stems from a consolidated debt structure. The plaintiff alleges a maturity default occurred after the borrower failed to repay the secondary loan balance by its November 10, 2025, maturity date, which subsequently triggered a cross-default and acceleration of the primary $47 million mortgage.

Court records reflect the position of one party and are not necessarily accurate or complete.

Case 517136/2026 LINK
Watermark Capital Group borrowed the $47 million in 2022 from Signature Bank. That loan has a maturity date of June 10, 2032. The fee is owned by the Roman Catholic Church Diocese of Brooklyn which signed a 99-year lease as landlord with Watermark Capital Group in 2016 valued at $10 million.

In addition to seeking a judgment of foreclosure and sale, the plaintiff is requesting the appointment of a rent receiver and the foreclosure of its security interest in the property’s collateral. McCarter & English, LLP is representing the plaintiff in the proceedings.

The property

The elevator building with 130 residential units in Williamsburg has 169,319 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 222 feet and is 99 feet deep with a total lot size of 28,063 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R6 which allows for up to 2.43 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The property has a 421A exemption that started in 2019 and expires in 2055. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $48.6 million. The most recent loan totaled $47 million and was provided by Signature Bank on June 3, 2022.

The 169,319-square-foot property generated revenue of $5.9 million or $35 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures. For the tax lot building, it received its initial certificate of occupancy on November 1, 2018. According to city public data, the property has received two housing violations in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Williamsburg, The bulk, or 39 percent of the 50.4 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 $2.2 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Williamsburg is the most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 42 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 83 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There were 20 pre-foreclosure suit filed among other development buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of one of the six commercial properties representing 169,319 square feet of the 177,619 square feet. The identified owner is Wolfe Landau. On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 11,871 square feet. It is a seven-unit, 11,871 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Michal Kuras with plans filed September 16, 2016 and it has not been permitted yet.

Within a 400-foot radius of 321 Wythe Avenue, PincusCo identified five commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. One of those five items was a sale which EDRE Development bought the 12,172-square-foot, nine-unit rental (C7) on 37 South 3rd Street for $8.2 million from John McNulty on May 6, 2026. Of those five items, four were loans above $5 million totaling $48.1 million. The most recent of the four was EDRE Development in which borrowed $6.2 million from S3 Capital secured by the 12,172-square-foot, nine-unit rental (C7) on 37 South 3rd Street on May 6, 2026.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page.

Flagstar sues ABJ for $15.5M: Flagstar Bank alleges a $15.5 million loan its predecessor New York Community Bank provided to affiliates of ABJ Properties was in a payment defualt. The lender filed the complaint on May 8, 2026, in Bronx County Supreme Court against the entities SCG 490 LLC, SCG 496 LLC, SCG 502 LLC, and alleged guarantor Benjamin Soleimani.

The dispute centers on a $15,512,000 consolidated commercial loan issued in June 2022, secured by three multi-family properties located at 490, 496, and 502 East 189th Street in the Bronx. The plaintiff alleges a payment default, asserting that the borrowers failed to make required monthly interest payments starting in September 2025. Consequently, the bank accelerated the debt and is seeking a total claim of approximately $15,464,194.

Flagstar Bank seeks a judgment of foreclosure and sale of the properties to satisfy the outstanding debt, along with the recovery of attorney fees and costs. The plaintiff is represented by the law firm Meister Seelig & Fein PLLC.

The properties

The walkup building at 502 East 189th Street with 30 residential units in Belmont has 23,100 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 42 feet and is 122 feet deep with a total lot size of 5,177 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R6 which allows for up to 2.43 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.4 million. The most recent loan totaled $15.5 million and was provided by New York Community Bank on June 1, 2022. This property was sold for $5.8 million on March 27, 2018. The 23,100-square-foot property generated revenue of $436,459 or $19 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The walkup building at 490 East 189th Street with 30 residential units in Belmont has 23,100 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 42 feet and is 122 feet deep with a total lot size of 5,146 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R6 which allows for up to 2.43 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.7 million. The most recent loan totaled $15.5 million and was provided by New York Community Bank on June 1, 2022. This property was sold for $5.7 million on March 27, 2018. The 23,100-square-foot property generated revenue of $481,207 or $21 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures. According to city public data, the property has received 260 housing violations, $1,380 in OATH penalties, and two housing litigations in the last year.

The walkup building at 496 East 189th Street with 30 residential units in Belmont has 23,100 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 42 feet and is 122 feet deep with a total lot size of 5,177 square feet. The zoning is R6 which allows for up to 2.43 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.4 million. The most recent loan totaled $15.5 million and was provided by New York Community Bank on June 1, 2022. This property was sold for $5.5 million on March 27, 2018. The 23,100-square-foot property generated revenue of $450,792 or $20 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures. According to city public data, the property has received 85 housing violations, $750 in OATH penalties, and one housing litigation in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Belmont, The bulk, or 43 percent of the 14.3 million square feet of commercial built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 26 percent of the space. In sales, Belmont has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $89.7 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 18th highest in Bronx. For development, Belmont has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 9th highest in Bronx. It had 1.1 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 7 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of seven of the 12 commercial properties representing 203,830 square feet of the 324,949 square feet. The largest owner is Abj Properties, followed by City Of New York and then Isaac Gutman. There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The owner

The PincusCo database currently indicates that ABJ Properties owned at least 98 commercial properties with 1,143 residential units in New York City with 1,099,095 square feet and a city-determined market value of $168.9 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 84 percent of the 1,099,095 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with elevator properties next occupying 13 percent of the space. The bulk, or 40 percent of the built space, is in Bronx, with Manhattan next at 31 percent of the space.

The owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Joseph Soleimani, head officer and Julio Lora, site manager. The business entity is Scg 502, Llc.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page
Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page
Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page