Rubin Equities signs $36M construction loan for 107-unit project in Mott Haven

Sam Rubin’s Rubin Equities through the entity 286 Rider Avenue Owner LLC as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender Popular Bank through the entity Popular Bank valued at $36 million for the development building (V1) at 286 Rider Avenue in Mott Haven, Bronx.
There is a new building project, 220707929, calling for a 107-unit, 76,626-square-foot residential (R-2) building originally submitted by Heritage Equity Partners and filed by Toby Moskovits with plans filed June 26, 2019 and permitted December 10, 2024. Sam Rubin is now the identified owner in DOB records.
The deal closed on December 27, 2024 and was recorded on January 7, 2025. The prior lender was Nahman Lichtenstein which held debt that had an original loan amount of $750,000.The property has 20,555 square feet of built space and 84,312 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 84,312 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $1,751 and the price per buildable square foot is $426 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 owner bought the property on May 3, 2024, for $15 million. The signatory for Rubin Equities was Sam Rubin.

The property

The development building in Mott Haven has 20,555 square feet of built space and 84,312 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 84,312 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 175 feet and is 110 feet deep with a total lot size of 21,078 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is M1-4/R7A which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing and up to 4 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.4 million. The most recent loan totaled $8 million and was provided by Be-Aviv on September 19, 2019.

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 received $4,155 in ECB penalties and $4,155 in OATH penalties in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Mott Haven, The bulk, or 45 percent of the 41.7 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with industrial buildings next occupying 23 percent of the space. In sales, Mott Haven has 1.2 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $303.1 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the highest in Bronx. For development, Mott Haven has 1.6 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 2nd highest in Bronx. It had 1.7 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 4 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of two of the 11 commercial properties representing 182,125 square feet of the 277,829 square feet. The two identified owners are Nyc Department Of Education and Sam Rubin.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 195,254 square feet. The largest is a 105-unit, 97,627 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Heritage Equity Partners and filed by Toby Moskovits with plans filed June 26, 2019 and permitted December 10, 2024. The second largest is a 18-unit, 97,627 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Toby Moskovits with plans filed June 21, 2019 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 58 percent of the 277,829 square feet of built space are specialty buildings, with industrial buildings next occupying 26 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Sam Rubin owned at least nine commercial properties with 119 residential units in New York City with 139,468 square feet and a city-determined market value of $19.9 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $79.8 million in debt, with top three lenders as Popular Bank, First Republic Bank, and Bethpage Federal Credit Union respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 41 percent of the 139,468 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 33 percent of the space. The bulk, or 85 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Bronx next at 15 percent of the space.

Direct link to Acris document. link