Solomon Schwimmer signs $18.2M construction loan with Parke Bank for 46-unit dev site in Crown Heights

Solomon Schwimmer through the entity Grand Units LLC as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender Parke Bank valued at $18.2 million for the midblock development building at 527 Grand Avenue in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
The deal closed on April 8, 2022 and was recorded on May 4, 2022.
The owner bought the property on December 27, 2021, for $5.2 million. The signatory for Solomon Schwimmer was Solomon Schwimmer.

The property

The 527 Grand Avenue parcel has frontage of 55 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 5,500 square feet. The zoning is R7A which allows for up to 4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $250,000.

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 not received any significant violations in the last year.

Development

On these lots, there is one active new building construction project for a 46-unit, 42,284-square-foot R-2 building. The project was developed by Solomon Schwimmer with plans filed December 10, 2021 and it has not been permitted yet.

The neighborhood

In Crown Heights, the bulk, or 27 percent of the 66.4 million square feet of commercial built space are residential elevator buildings, with residential walkup buildings next occupying 27 percent of the space. In sales, Crown Heights has 1.2 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $336.3 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 11th highest in Brooklyn. For development, Crown Heights has 1.7 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 12th highest in Brooklyn. It had 1.6 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 2 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There were four pre-foreclosure suit filed among other development buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of seven of the 35 commercial properties representing 5,750 square feet of the 61,280 square feet. The largest owner is Nadine N. Oelsner, followed by Clipper Realty and then All Year Management. There are two active new building construction projects totaling 161,278 square feet. The largest is a 175-unit, 118,994-square-foot R-2 building developed by Solomon Schwimmer with plans filed April 29, 2020 and permitted August 13, 2021. The second largest is a 46-unit, 42,284-square-foot R-2 building developed by Solomon Schwimmer with plans filed December 10, 2021 and it has not been permitted yet.

the majority, or 62 percent of the 72,581 square feet of built space are industrial buildings, with 1-4 family buildings next occupying 16 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database, which is incomplete) currently indicates that Solomon Schwimmer owned at least eight commercial properties with 27,958 square feet and a city-determined market value of $6.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $41.6 million in debt, with top three lenders as Sabal Capital Partners, Valley National Bank, and Hanover Community Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 82 percent of the 27,958 square feet of built space are residential walkup properties, with residential elevator properties next occupying 11 percent of the space. The bulk, or 89 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Bronx next at 11 percent of the space.

Surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of N/A Grand Avenue, Pincusco identified five commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months.
Of those five items, one was in new building development. It was a new building permit issued on January 31, 2022 for a 55,957-square-foot R-2 building with 69 residential units at 979 Pacific Street.
Of those five items, two were for major renovation including a certificate of occupancy change. They were two permit applications with a total initial cost of $1.8 million. The most recent of these two items was the filing on February 1, 2022 for a 8,250-square-foot A-2 building with zero residential units at 535 Grand Avenue.
Of those five items, two were loans above $5 million totaling $30 million. The most recent of the two was EMP Capital Group which borrowed $21.5 million from Dime Community Bank secured by the 0-square-foot industrial (G7) on GRAND Avenue on April 18, 2022.

Direct link to Acris document. link