Spencer Equity, Rabsky sign $267M refi for five rentals in Williamsburg

Joel Gluck’s Spencer Equity Group and the Rabsky Group obtained a $267 million refinancing through the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange for five adjacent rental buildings in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in two transactions. The larger transaction is for the residential condominium portions of four buildings, 352 Wallabout Street, 342 Wallabout Street, 330 Wallabout Street and 322 Wallabout Street. The second transaction is for the entire building at 13-15 Gerry Street, which is adjacent to 322 Wallabout Street, and the retail and parking condo units in the first four properties.

In the larger transaction, Spencer Equity Group and the Rabsky Group through the entity Wallabout Realty Corp. as borrower signed a refi loan with lender Mishmeret Trust Company Ltd., As Trustee valued at $158.4 million for the four rental properties.
The deal closed on November 7, 2024 and was recorded on November 29, 2024. The prior lender was Tel Aviv Stock Exchange bondholders which held debt that had an original loan amount of $140 million.
The signatory for Spencer Equity Group and Rabsky Group was Joel Gluck. The signatory for Mishmeret Trust Company Ltd., As Trustee was Hillel Lazarus. In June 2024 Spencer Equity converted the buildings into four condominium ownership structures each with a parking condo, a retail condo and a residential apartment condo. The residential units are the 58-unit in 352 Wallabout Street (former lot 14, now lot 1003), the 60-unit in 342 Wallabout Street (former lot 16, now lot 1103), the 84-unit in 330 Wallabout Street (former lot 18, now 1203), and the 60-unit in 322 Wallabout Street (former lot 20, now lot 1303).

In the other transaction, Spencer Equity Group and Rabsky Group through the entity Harrison Plaza LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender Tel Aviv Stock Exchange bondholders through the entity Mishmeret Trust Company Ltd., As Trustee valued at $108.7 million for nine properties with 120 residential units including the 120-unit residential elevator building (D7) at 13-15 Gerry Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and the retail and parking condo units in the other four buildings.

The deal closed on November 7, 2024 and was recorded on November 29, 2024. The prior lender was Valley National Bank which held debt that had an original loan amount of $74.7 million. The signatory for Spencer Equity Group and Rabsky Group was Joel Gluck. The signatory for Tel Aviv Stock Exchange bondholders was Hillel Lazarus.

Development

There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $1 million on this tax lot. On the tax lot, the most recent condominium plan was filed by WALLABOUT REALTY CORP. to create 38 residential units and 1 commercial units in a building at 322 Wallabout Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, called 322 Wallabout Street Condominium that has a $84 million sellout, according to an May 08, 2023 submission to the New York State Attorney General. The principal of the sponsor, WALLABOUT REALTY CORP., was Hersh Rosenberg.

The block

On the tax block, there were five new building construction projects totaling 672,317 square feet. The largest is a 120-unit, 159,860 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Rabsky Group and filed by Rafael Rabinowitz with plans filed April 28, 2021 and permitted December 23, 2021. The second largest is a 60-unit, 133,619 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Rabsky Group and filed by Rafael Rabinowitz with plans filed April 14, 2021 and permitted April 25, 2023.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Rabsky Group owned at least 30 commercial properties with 2,946 residential units in New York City with 1,966,119 square feet and a city-determined market value of $274.7 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $2.1 billion in debt, with top three lenders as Bank Leumi, Apollo Global Management, and Madison Realty Capital respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 88 percent of the 1,966,119 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with industrial properties next occupying 8 percent of the space. The bulk, or 80 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Queens next at 20 percent of the space.
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Spencer Equity Group owned at least nine commercial properties with 604 residential units in New York City with 484,333 square feet and a city-determined market value of $56.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $125.2 million in debt, with top three lenders as Sterling National Bank, Santander Bank, and Signature Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 90 percent of the 484,333 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 10 percent of the space. The bulk, or 94 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Manhattan next at 6 percent of the space.

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