Procida signs $111.5M construction loan for 208-unit project in Brownsville

Procida Companies through the entity Ebenezer Plaza Owner Phase II LLC as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender NYC Housing Development Corporation valued at $111.5 million for the development building (V1) at 589 Christopher Avenue in Brownsville, Brooklyn.

On these lots, there is one active new building construction project for a 208-unit, 187,196-square-foot R-2 building. The project was developed by Mario Procida with plans filed September 9, 2019 and it has not been permitted yet.

The deal closed on June 29, 2022 and was recorded on July 18, 2022. The property has zero square feet of built space and 154,698 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 154,698 square feet according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $N/A and the price per buildable square foot is $720 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 22, 2018, for $4.4 million. The signatory for Procida Companies was Ericka Keller. The signatory for NYC Housing Development Corporation was Ruth Moreira.

The property

The 589 Christopher Avenue parcel has frontage of 200 feet and is 219 feet deep with a total lot size of 36,833 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R7D which allows for up to 4.2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $2.5 million.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property since September of 2020. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received one DOB violation, $3,810 in ECB penalties, and $8,940 in OATH penalties in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Brownsville, the bulk, or 46 percent of the 28.4 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 21 percent of the space. In sales, Brownsville has the 38th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in Brooklyn with $52.7 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Brownsville has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 20th highest in Brooklyn. It had 1.1 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 4 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

There is one active new building construction project totaling 187,196 square feet. It is a 208-unit, 187,196-square-foot R-2 building developed by Mario Procida with plans filed September 9, 2019 and permitted May 4, 2022.

All properties are development.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Procida Companies owned at least four commercial properties in New York City with 206,482 square feet and a city-determined market value of $16.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $47.8 million in debt, borrowed from Webster Bank. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 67 percent of the 206,482 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with rental condo properties next occupying 31 percent of the space. The bulk, or 67 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Bronx next at 33 percent of the space.

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