Skyward Developers signs $24M refi with Castle Lanterra for 81-unit rental in Mt Hope

Skyward Developers through the entity 53 E 177 Realty LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender Castle Lanterra through the entity CL Credit Opportunities Lender LLC valued at $24 million for the 81-unit residential elevator building (D7) at 53 East 177th Street in Mt Hope, Bronx.
The deal closed on March 25, 2024 and was recorded on April 9, 2024. The prior lender was Eastern Capital Group which held debt that had an original loan amount of $18.3 million.The property has 47,820 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $501 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 9, 2022, for $4.1 million.

The signatory for Skyward Developers was Joel Mittelman. The signatory for Castle Lanterra was Elie Rieder. CL Credit is an affiliate of Castle Lanterra.

Eastern Capital Group is partially owned by Industrie Capital Partners. The signatory for Eastern Capital Group was Robert Cayre, owner of Aurora Capital Associates.

The property

The residential elevator building with 81 residential units in Mt Hope has 47,820 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 75 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 7,499 square feet. The zoning is R8 which allows for up to 6.02 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential.

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 $28,750 in ECB penalties and $36,080 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

On the lot, there is one active new building construction project for a 81-unit, 50,520 square-foot R-2 building. The project was submitted by Mike Schwartz and filed by Mike Schwartz with plans filed April 14, 2022 and permitted September 23, 2022.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of four of the 11 commercial properties representing 117,850 square feet of the 262,581 square feet. The largest owner is Morris Weinberg, followed by Joel Mittelman and then Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 50,520 square feet. It is a 81-unit, 50,520 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Mike Schwartz and filed by Mike Schwartz with plans filed April 14, 2022 and permitted May 31, 2022.

The majority, or 61 percent of the 262,581 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 33 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Skyward Developers owned at least one commercial property with 25 residential units in New York City with 17,150 square feet and a city-determined market value of $2.5 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $7.3 million in debt, borrowed from JLL. The portfolio consists of at least a single elevator property. It is located in Bronx.

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