Settlement Housing Fund files plans for 172-unit building in Coney Island

Settlement Housing Fund submitted a new building construction project for a 172-unit, 133,799 square-foot residential (R-2) building at 2952 West 28th Street in Coney Island, Brooklyn, on what is now a parking lot. The plan was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings on August 14, 2024 under job number B01087711. It calls for the construction of a 15-story building. The project is described in the filing as: filing herewith construction of new 15-story building as per plans. Judy Herbstman, president of Settlement Housing Fund, filed the plans. The architect is ESKW/Architects. The plans show a building with 14 units on each of the floors from three to 13, but does not yet show plans for the 14th and 15th floors.

The property

The parcel has frontage of 171 feet and is 108 feet deep with a total lot size of 19,299 square feet. The zoning is R6 which allows for up to 2.43 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1 million. The most recent loan totaled $7.2 million and was provided by Enterprise Community Partners on April 27, 2023.

Prior sales and revenue

This property was sold by Starrett Companies for $5.5 million to Settlement Housing Fund on April 27, 2023.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has not received any significant violations in the last year.

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months.

The neighborhood

In Coney Island, The majority, or 68 percent of the 14.4 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 10 percent of the space. In sales, Coney Island has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $258.1 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 26th highest in Brooklyn. For development, Coney Island has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 8th highest in Brooklyn. It had 1.7 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 12 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of two of the seven commercial properties representing 453,758 square feet of the 627,130 square feet. The two identified owners are Elh Mgmt. and Settlement Housing Fund. On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 133,799 square feet. It is a 172-unit, 133,799 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Judy Herbstman with plans filed August 14, 2024 and it has not been permitted yet.

The owner

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Settlement Housing Fund owned at least 35 commercial properties with 2,096 residential units in New York City with 2,196,088 square feet and a city-determined market value of $123.1 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $372.7 million in debt, with top three lenders as NYC Housing Development Corporation, Community Preservation Corporation, and UMB Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 72 percent of the 2,196,088 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 23 percent of the space. The bulk, or 65 percent of the built space, is in Bronx, with Brooklyn next at 24 percent of the space.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of West 28th Street, PincusCo identified two commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. One of those two items was a sale which Tredway, Gilbane Development, ELH Mgmt., and Brookfield Asset Management bought the 453,758-square-foot, 334-unit rental (D6) on 2966 West 28th Street for $60.1 million from Arker Companies and Related Companies on June 13, 2023. One of those two items was a loan which Tredway, Gilbane Development, ELH Mgmt., and Brookfield Asset Management borrowed $120 million from Deutsche Bank secured by the 386,700-square-foot, 334-unit rental (D6) on 2966 West 28th Street and two other properties on June 13, 2023.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.