Samuel Brach pays $10.3M to Crown Acquisitions for Bensonhurst retail flip

Samuel Brach through the entity SB 1865 LLC paid $10.3 million to the Chera family’s Crown Acquisitions through the entity Crown 18th Avenue LLC for the retail building (K1) at 6505 18th Avenue in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. Crown Acquisitions bought the building less than two months earlier for $7.7 million.
The deal closed on August 22, 2023 and was recorded on September 1, 2023. The property has 7,600 square feet of built space and 16,698 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 24,297 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $1,350 and the price per buildable square foot is $422 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 Crown Acquisitions was Isaac Chera. The signatory for Samuel Brach was Samuel Brach. The contract date was August 1, 2023.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Samuel Brach purchased one property in one transactions for a total of $4.6 million and sold one property in one transactions for a total of $1.3 million over the past 24 months.
The seller Crown Acquisitions purchased four properties in four transactions for a total of $14.1 million and sold one properties in one transactions for a total of $6.2 million over the same time period. The 7,600-square-foot property generated revenue of $603,830 or $79 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The mixed-use building in Bensonhurst has 7,600 square feet of built space and 16,698 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 24,297 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 40 feet and is 160 feet deep with a total lot size of 9,999 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is C4-2 which allows for up to 3.4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 2.43 times FAR for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $5.2 million. The most recent loan totaled $5 million and was provided by East West Bank on June 29, 2023.

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 one DOB violation and $1,050 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 Bensonhurst, The bulk, or 34 percent of the 16.5 million square feet of commercial built space are walkup buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 21 percent of the space. In sales, Bensonhurst has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $339.3 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 24th highest in Brooklyn. For development, Bensonhurst has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 429,850 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 3 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There were two pre-foreclosure suit filed among other mixed-use buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of five of the seven commercial properties representing 14,496 square feet of the 21,825 square feet. The largest owner is Sol Goldman Investments, followed by FSA Capital and then Crown Acquisitions.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 28,132 square feet. The largest is a 20-unit, 19,960 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Benjamin Clyburn with plans filed February 17, 2021 and permitted April 19, 2023. The second largest is a seven-unit, 8,172 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Benjamin Clyburn with plans filed September 13, 2018 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 51 percent of the 21,825 square feet of built space are retail buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 49 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Crown Acquisitions owned at least seven commercial properties with 107 residential units in New York City with 648,636 square feet and a city-determined market value of $578.5 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $16.5 million in debt, borrowed from East West Bank. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 69 percent of the 648,636 square feet of built space are office properties, with D4 properties next occupying 22 percent of the space. The bulk, or 97 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 3 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Samuel Brach owned at least four commercial properties with 32 residential units in New York City with 29,952 square feet and a city-determined market value of $5 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 79 percent of the 29,952 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with mixed-use properties next occupying 21 percent of the space. They are all located in Brooklyn.

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