Rockrose pays $160M to St. Francis College for property in Brooklyn Heights

Rockrose Development through the entity BK Acquisition Three L.L.C. paid $160 million to St. Francis College for the landmarked specialty building (W6) at 180 Remsen Street and two neighboring parcels fronting Joralemon Street, all in Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn.
The deal closed on March 31, 2023 and was recorded on April 3, 2023. The three properties have 272,585 square feet of built space and 225,339 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 497,830 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $586 and the price per buildable square foot is $321 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.)

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 172 Remsen Street.

The property

The parcel has frontage of 300 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 29,814 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is C5-2A which allows for up to 10 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 10 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The property is in the Individual Landmark. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $71.9 million. The most recent loan totaled $45 million and was provided by Build NYC Resources Corporation on October 1, 2021.
The parcel has frontage of 65 feet and is 97 feet deep with a total lot size of 6,658 square feet. The zoning is C5-2A which allows for up to 10 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 10 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $22.2 million. The most recent loan totaled $45 million and was provided by Build NYC Resources Corporation on October 1, 2021.
The parcel has frontage of 135 feet and is 111 feet deep with a total lot size of 13,311 square feet. The zoning is C5-2A which allows for up to 10 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 10 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $20.7 million. The most recent loan totaled $45 million and was provided by Build NYC Resources Corporation on October 1, 2021.

The buyer is an affiliate of Rockrose Development, according to a release yesterday from St. Francis College. Cushman & Wakefield brokered the sale, with a team led by Dan O’Brien.

Rockrose is developing a 609-unit rental building in Fort Greene. 

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 $3,750 in ECB penalties and $13,000 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 neighborhood

In Brooklyn Heights, The bulk, or 26 percent of the 12 million square feet of commercial built space are office buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 23 percent of the space. In sales, Brooklyn Heights has 1.2 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $408.8 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 16th highest in Brooklyn. For development, Brooklyn Heights has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 277,398 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 2 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On the tax block of 172 Remsen Street, PincusCo has identified the owners of six of the nine commercial properties representing 405,327 square feet of the 680,100 square feet. The largest owner is Roman Catholic Church, followed by Scharfman Organization and then St. Francis College.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 194,520 square feet. It is a 37-unit, 194,520 square-foot hotel/dormitory/shelter (R-1) building submitted by Tony Greenberg with plans filed September 11, 2018 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 52 percent of the 680,100 square feet of built space are office buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 40 percent of the space.

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