Rester Management, partners, plan 27 units in Williamsburg
400 South 2nd Street (Credit - Cyclomedia)
Eliezer Fried of Bezz Enterprises submitted a major alteration application for a rehabilitation of a loft building owned in part by Montreal-based Rester Management, at 400 South 2nd Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, converting it from approximately nine units to 27 units. The project would also remove the building from the Loft Law that covers IMD, or Interim Multiple Dwellings, and give the building a proper certificate of occupancy under a residential (R-2) occupancy.
The plan was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings on February 28, 2024 under job number B00979335. It calls for a rehab of the five-story building. The project is described in the filing as: conversion of existing manufacturing building into mixed-use residential and commercial building under provisions of New York City loft law. Interior renovation to include demolition and construction of partitions as well as roof work. The proposed zoning square feet is 44,790 square feet.
Rester Management acquired several properties formerly owned by investor Chaskiel Strulovitch, who put a large portfolio of properties into bankruptcy in 2019.
In 2015, a partnership including Chaskiel Strulovitch, through the entity 400 South 2nd Street Holdings, bought adjacent loft buildings 394 South 2nd Street, 25-feet wide, and 396 South 2nd Street, 75-feet wide, for $9.15 million.
In 2018, through a no-consideration deed, ownership was transferred from 400 South 2nd Street Holdings to 400 South 2nd Street Realties, with Shlomo Drazin as member, signing for both buyer and seller. 400 South 2nd Street Realties, with an address at Rester Management, borrowed $8 million.
In addition, Eliezer Fried on February 15, 2024, filed a zoning lot merger to combine the two lots into one lot 17, with 100 feet of frontage.
200 South 2nd Street B00979335
| wdt_ID | floor | comment | description | persons_permitted | occupancy_label | zoning_use | dwelling_units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ground Floor | LAUNDROMAT | Business and Service | 40 | Business | 6A | |
| 2 | Ground Floor | RETAIL STORE | Retail Sale | 46 | Mercantile | 6C | |
| 3 | Ground Floor | MUSIC STORE | Business and Service | 30 | Business | 9A | |
| 4 | Mezzanine - 1 | CLASS A APARTMENTS | Apartment | N/A | Residential | 2a | (2) 1/2 UNITS |
| 5 | 2 | CLASS 'A' APARTMENTS | Apartment | N/A | Residential | 2A | 5 & (2) 1/2 UNITS |
| 6 | 3 | CLASS 'A' APARTMENTS | Apartment | N/A | Residential | 2A | 7 |
| 7 | 4 | CLASS 'A' APARTMENTS | Apartment | N/A | Residential | 2A | 7 |
| 8 | 5 | CLASS 'A' APARTMENTS | Apartment | N/A | Residential | 2A | 6 |
| floor | comment | description | persons_permitted | occupancy_label | zoning_use | dwelling_units |
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 $2.3 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Williamsburg is the 10th most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 4.4 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 9 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.
The block
On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 14 of the 19 commercial properties representing 233,124 square feet of the 294,522 square feet. The largest owner is Abraham Grunhut, followed by Eric Chan and then Gilman Management. There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.
The surrounding
Within a 400-foot radius of 400 South 2nd Street, PincusCo identified two commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those two items, two were loans above $5 million totaling $163.6 million. The most recent of the two was Hyunshin Park in which borrowed $6.5 million from Cathay Bank secured by the 13,826-square-foot, 19-unit rental (D1) on 390 South 2nd Street on August 7, 2023.
Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.