SMS Financial buys $21.6M note at institutional building in Williamsburg

SMS Financial through the entity SMS Financial CRE Fund, LLC bought a note with an original principal of $21.6 million from Fulton Bank secured by Jacob Fulop’s industrial building (E9) at 545 Broadway in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
The deal closed on March 21, 2025 and was recorded on April 3, 2025. The prior lender was Fulton Bank which held debt that had an original loan amount of $21.6 million.The property has 52,648 square feet of built space and 6,936 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 59,649 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. sold.)
Jacob Fulop bought the property on April 29, 2022, for $23 million. The signatory for Jacob Fulop at the time was Jacob Fulop. Republic Bank provided the $21.6 million acquisition loan in 2022 when Jacob Fulop bought the building for $23 million.

The property

The industrial building in Williamsburg has 52,648 square feet of built space and 6,936 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 59,649 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 290 feet and is 114 feet deep with a total lot size of 17,340 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is C4-4 which allows for up to 3.4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 3.44 times FAR for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $5.9 million. The most recent loan totaled $21.6 million and was provided by Republic Bank on September 30, 2022.

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 $1,562 in ECB penalties and $1,562 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

On the lot, there are two active new building construction projects and major alteration projects with initial costs more than $5 million, totaling 502,639 square feet. The largest, 321189405, is a new building project for a 226-unit, 283,731 square-foot R-2 building submitted by Blesso Properties and filed by Jason Buchheit with plans filed November 22, 2016 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest, 320909638, is a major alteration project for a 283,433 square-foot B building submitted by Jason Buchheit with plans filed September 28, 2015 and it has not been permitted yet.

The neighborhood

In Williamsburg, The bulk, or 39 percent of the 50.4 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 25 percent of the space. In sales, Williamsburg has the 4th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $1.9 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Williamsburg has 2.5 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 3rd highest in Brooklyn. It had 2.9 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 6 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of two of the two commercial properties representing 52,648 square feet of the 52,648 square feet. The two identified owners are Jacob Fulop and Loketch Group.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 487,220 square feet. The largest is a 226-unit, 283,731 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Blesso Properties and filed by Jason Buchheit with plans filed November 22, 2016 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a 274-unit, 203,489 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Hamilton Eastman and filed by Jack Wolcowitz with plans filed January 25, 2022 and permitted February 16, 2024.

The majority, or 100 percent of the 52,648 square feet of built space are industrial buildings, with development buildings next occupying 0 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Jacob Fulop owned at least 30 commercial properties with 251 residential units in New York City with 239,877 square feet and a city-determined market value of $47 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $161.7 million in debt, with top three lenders as Bank of Montreal, Bank of Princeton, and Bank Leumi respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 40 percent of the 239,877 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with elevator properties next occupying 23 percent of the space. The bulk, or 92 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Manhattan next at 8 percent of the space.

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