Private art organization signs $22.6M initial loan with JPMorgan Chase for arts complex in East Williamsburg

The private art group the Amant Foundation through the entity Amant Foundation Properties, LLC as borrower signed an initial loan with lender JPMorgan Chase valued at $22.6 million for five properties including the mixed-use building (K4) at 306 Maujer Street in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, mixed-use building (K1) at 932 Grand Street in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and mixed-use building (K4) at 315 Maujer Street in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
The deal closed on November 8, 2022 and was recorded on November 22, 2022.
The signatory for Lonti Eber’s Amant Foundation was James Bruce Flatt.  Lonti Eber’s husband is Bruce Flatt, the chief executive officer of Brookfield Asset Management Inc., Bloomberg reported.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the properties since September of 2020. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have not received any significant violations in the last year.

Development

On these lots, there are three active new building construction projects and major alteration projects with initial costs more than $5 million, totaling 28,253 square feet. The largest is a new building project for a one-unit, 19,504 square-foot S-2 building developed by Leontine Ebers with plans filed April 12, 2017 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a new building project for a 5,772 square-foot B building developed by Leontine Ebers with plans filed February 1, 2017 and permitted March 6, 2018.

The neighborhood

In East Williamsburg, the majority, or 63 percent of the 16.3 million square feet of commercial built space are industrial buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 10 percent of the space. In sales, East Williamsburg has 1.3 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $444.9 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 15th highest in Brooklyn. For development, East Williamsburg has 1.2 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 14th highest in Brooklyn. It had 1.3 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 was one pre-foreclosure suit filed among other mixed-use buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On the tax block of 306 Maujer Street, PincusCo has identified the owners of one of the 21 commercial properties representing 24,890 square feet of the 188,132 square feet. The identified owner is Jay Weitzman.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 5,772 square feet. It is a zero-unit, 5,772-square-foot B building developed by Leontine Ebers with plans filed February 1, 2017 and permitted January 18, 2018.

The majority, or 90 percent of the 188,132 square feet of built space are industrial buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 6 percent of the space.

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