S3 Capital lends Pinches Abowitz $29.3M to build 69 units in East Flatbush, S3’s 17th building loan in 12 months

Pinches Abowitz through the entity 2700 Church Realty LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender S3 Capital through the entity S3 Re 2700 Church Funding LLC valued at $29.3 million for a 69-unit development at 2718 Church Avenue in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. The property has alternate addresses including 2700 Church Avenue.
On these lots, there is one active new building construction project under Department of Buildings job number 321598008 for a 69-unit, 73,930-square-foot residential (R-2) building. The project was submitted by Yanky Geldzahler with plans filed August 31, 2020 and permitted March 19, 2024.
The deal closed on June 4, 2024 and was recorded on June 20, 2024. The prior lender was Valley National Bank which held debt that had an original loan amount of $5 million.

The loan price per buildable square foot is $396 per the PincusCo analysis.
The signatory for Pinches Abowitz was Pinches Abowitz. The signatory for S3 Capital was Joshua Crane. S3 Capital is the eighth most active construction lender in NYC over the past 12 months with $377 million through 16 loans, not including this one, according to a PincusCo analysis.

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 three DOB violations, $20,430 in ECB penalties, and $21,330 in OATH penalties in the last year.

The neighborhood

In East Flatbush, The bulk, or 32 percent of the 42.6 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 24 percent of the space. In sales, East Flatbush has 1.4 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $376.2 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 20th highest in Brooklyn. For development, East Flatbush has 1.5 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 10th highest in Brooklyn. It had 1.6 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 the tax block of 2716 Church Avenue, PincusCo has identified the owners of eight of the 31 commercial properties representing 163,683 square feet of the 255,587 square feet. The largest owner is Yaakov Geldzahler, followed by Saul Friedman and then Mordechai Katz.
On the tax block, there were four new building construction projects totaling 79,815 square feet. The largest is a 56-unit, 45,320 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Walid Shehadeh and filed by Walid Shehadeh with plans filed October 12, 2022 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is the 2700 Church Avenue project.

The majority, or 41 percent of the 255,587 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 20 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Pinches Abowitz owned at least five commercial properties with one residential unit in New York City with 1,188 square feet and a city-determined market value of $1.6 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $29.2 million in debt, with top three lenders as Popular Bank, S3 Capital, and Webster Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 100 percent of the 1,188 square feet of built space are A5 properties, with development properties next occupying 0 percent of the space. They are all located in Bronx.

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