Solomon Schwimmer signs $17.1M refi with Kearny Bank for residential elevator in Kensington

Solomon Schwimmer through the entity Newkirk Partners LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender Kearny Bank through the entity Kearny Bank valued at $17.1 million for the midblock 44-unit residential elevator building at 242 Newkirk Avenue in Kensington, Brooklyn.
The deal closed on May 4, 2022 and was recorded on May 16, 2022. The prior lender was TD Bank which held debt that had an original loan amount of $17.5 million.The property has 36,938 square feet of built space according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $464 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 December 17, 2015, for $4 million. The signatory for Solomon Schwimmer was Solomon Schwimmer. The signatory for Kearny Bank was Kenneth Stevenson.

Prior sales and revenue

The owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Solomon Schwimmer, head officer and Shimshy Braver, site manager. The business entity is Newkirk Partners Llc. The 36,938-square-foot property generated revenue of $1.1 million or $30 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The 242 Newkirk Avenue parcel has frontage of 50 feet and is 95 feet deep with a total lot size of 7,615 square feet. The zoning is R7A which allows for up to 4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The property has a 421A exemption that started in 2020 and expires in 2035. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $4 million.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property since September of 2020. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received two DOB violations in the last year.

Development

For the tax lot building, it received its initial certificate of occupancy on January 11, 2018. There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $5 million on this tax lot.

The neighborhood

In Kensington, the bulk, or 38 percent of the 21.1 million square feet of commercial built space are residential elevator buildings, with 1-4 family buildings next occupying 32 percent of the space. In sales, Kensington has the 40th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in Brooklyn with $31.3 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Kensington has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 600,160 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.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of one of the three commercial properties representing 43,018 square feet of the 82,992 square feet. The identified owner is Langsam Property Services. There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 61 percent of the 282,048 square feet of built space are residential elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 33 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Solomon Schwimmer owned at least eight commercial properties with 24,958 square feet and a city-determined market value of $5.9 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $59.8 million in debt, with top three lenders as Parke Bank, Sabal Capital Partners, and Valley National Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 92 percent of the 24,958 square feet of built space are residential walkup properties, with development properties next occupying 8 percent of the space. They are all located in Brooklyn.

Surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 242 Newkirk Avenue, Pincusco identified four commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months.
One of those four items was a sale which Abraham Jeremias bought the 57,660-square-foot, 63-unit rental (D1) on 250 Parkville Avenue for $7.9 million from Eric Silverstein on June 16, 2020.
Of those four items, three were loans above $5 million totaling $30.4 million. The most recent of the three was Solomon Feder which borrowed $8.4 million from Signature Bank secured by the 14,535-square-foot, 22-unit rental (D3) on 639 Foster Avenue on October 22, 2021.

Direct link to Acris document. link