Recent seller pays $4.8M to Firebird Grove for mixed-use in Williamsburg

Suzanne Castagna, who recently sold a few properties, through the entity Al Frank 303 Bedford LLC paid $4.8 million to Firebird Grove through the entity OR 303 Bedford, LLC for the two-unit mixed-use building (S2) at 303 Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The expected use is cash flowing.
The deal closed on April 23, 2025 and was recorded on June 13, 2025. The property has 2,880 square feet of built space and 1,416 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 4,301 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $1,666 and the price per buildable square foot is $1,115 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 seller bought the property on January 25, 2022, for $3.1 million. The signatory for Firebird Grove was Adam Semler and Alex Friedman . The signatory for Suzanne Castagna was Suzanne Castagna. The contract date was January 30, 2025.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Suzanne Castagna purchased one property in one transaction for a total of $4.3 million and sold three properties in two transactions for a total of $7.2 million over the past 24 months.
The seller Firebird Grove purchased 11 properties in three transactions for a total of $38.9 million and sold two properties in two transactions for a total of $6.1 million over the same time period. The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Marla Siegel, head officer and Jair Gutierrez, site manager. The business entity is OR 303 Bedford LLC.

The property

The mixed-use building with 2 residential units in Williamsburg has 2,880 square feet of built space and 1,416 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 4,301 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 20 feet and is 88 feet deep with a total lot size of 1,770 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 $2.5 million.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the property has 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 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 4th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $1.9 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Williamsburg has 2.5 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 2nd highest in Brooklyn. It had 2.9 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. There was one pre-foreclosure suit filed among other mixed-use buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of four of the 14 commercial properties representing 58,259 square feet of the 100,530 square feet. The largest owner is Firebird Grove, followed by Miguel Santiago and then Suzanne Castagna.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 76 percent of the 100,530 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 17 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Firebird Grove owned at least 53 commercial properties with 412 residential units in New York City with 371,975 square feet and a city-determined market value of $175.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $37 million in debt, with top three lenders as Derby Copeland Capital, Bank of America, and Signature Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 53 percent of the 371,975 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with mixed-use properties next occupying 35 percent of the space. The bulk, or 52 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Manhattan next at 48 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Suzanne Castagna owned at least two commercial properties with six residential units in New York City with 6,000 square feet and a city-determined market value of $2.9 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 52 percent of the 6,000 square feet of built space are C3 properties, with mixed-use properties next occupying 48 percent of the space. They are all located in Brooklyn.

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