Renaissance Realty signs $7.5M refi with Citibank for two walkups in Crown Heights

Renaissance Realty Group through the entity 1646 Union LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender Citibank through the entity Citi Real Estate Funding Inc. valued at $7.5 million for two residential walkup properties with 61 residential units including the 38-unit residential walkup building (C1) at 285 Schenectady Avenue in Crown Heights, Brooklyn and 23-unit residential walkup building (C1) at 1646 Union Street in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
The deal closed on September 30, 2024 and was recorded on October 25, 2024. The prior lender was Flagstar Bank which held debt that had an original loan amount of $5.4 million.The two properties have 57,192 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $131 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 signatory for Renaissance Realty Group was Shmuel Kairy. The signatory for Citibank was Anna Gutteridge.

Because multiple properties have been transacted, some of the following sections will follow the property with the largest assessed value, which in this case, is the property on 285 Schenectady Avenue.

Prior sales and revenue

The owner according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development is Bulover Guartan, head officer. The business entity is 285 Schenecvtady Llc.

The property

The residential walkup buildings with 38 residential units in Crown Heights have 57,192 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 100 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 10,000 square feet. The zoning is R4 which allows for up to 0.75 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $2.1 million.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the properties for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have received 22 housing violations and $4,805 in OATH penalties 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 block

On the tax block of 285 Schenectady Avenue, PincusCo has identified the owners of 12 of the 19 commercial properties representing 262,970 square feet of the 335,912 square feet. The largest owner is Metropolitan Realty Group, followed by Maverick Management and then Alexander Berkovitch.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 73 percent of the 335,912 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 13 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Renaissance Realty Group owned at least 65 commercial properties with 946 residential units in New York City with 1,101,216 square feet and a city-determined market value of $163.7 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $106.8 million in debt, with top three lenders as Greystone & Co., Kearny Bank, and Webster Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 51 percent of the 1,101,216 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with elevator properties next occupying 27 percent of the space. The bulk, or 70 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Manhattan next at 20 percent of the space.

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