RockFarmer Properties signs $23.2M refi loan with Bank Hapoalim for six properties in Ditmars Steinway

RockFarmer Properties through the entity Rfc 31 Ccu LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender Bank Hapoalim valued at $23.2 million for six properties including the retail building (K1) at 21-13 31st Street in Ditmars Steinway, Queens, retail building (K1) at 21-01 31st Street in Ditmars Steinway, Queens, and retail building (K1) at 21-07 31st Street in Ditmars Steinway, Queens.
The deal closed on June 17, 2022 and was recorded on July 25, 2022. The prior lender was Signature Bank. The six properties have 18,310 square feet of built space and 37,929 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 56,271 square feet according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $1,269 and the price per buildable square foot is $413 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 RockFarmer Properties was John Petras. The signatory for Bank Hapoalim was Steven Caligor and Yaroslav Portuhay.

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 21-13 31st Street.

Prior sales and revenue

Out of the six properties, three with a total of 18,310 square feet of built space generated revenue of $596,326 per year.

The property

The 21-13 31st Street parcel has frontage of 88 feet and is 79 feet deep with a total lot size of 7,760 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R6A which allows for up to 3 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.1 million.The most recent loan totaled $10 million and was provided by GCP Capital Group on May 14, 2021.

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

For the tax lot buildings, one out of the six buildings received a initial certificate of occupancy in the last ten years. There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $5 million on this tax lot.

The neighborhood

In Ditmars Steinway, the bulk, or 40 percent of the 11.3 million square feet of commercial built space are walkup buildings, with industrial buildings next occupying 25 percent of the space. In sales, Ditmars Steinway has had very little sales volume relative to other neighborhoods with $194.6 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Ditmars Steinway has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 712,170 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.

The block

On the tax block of 21-13 31st Street, PincusCo has identified the owners of eight of the 25 commercial properties representing 158,731 square feet of the 246,592 square feet. The largest owner is RockFarmer Properties, followed by Sol Goldman Investments and then Frank Tsouros. There is one active new building construction project totaling 57,595 square feet. It is a 46-unit, 57,595-square-foot R-2 building developed by John Petras with plans filed March 3, 2017 and permitted December 4, 2018.

The majority, or 50 percent of the 246,442 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 20 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that RockFarmer Properties owned at least seven commercial properties in New York City with 171,414 square feet and a city-determined market value of $14.4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 57 percent of the 171,414 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 32 percent of the space. They are all located in Queens.

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