Sponsors file plans for 27-unit condo with $16.9M sellout in Flatbush

A group of investors, Oleg Gandelman, Eric Safyan, David Schwarz, and Lotzi Schwartz, under the name 779 Flatbush PropCo LLC submitted a condominium plan to create 27 residential units and two commercial units in a building at 779 Flatbush Avenue in Flatbush, Brooklyn, called One Lenox Condominium that has a $16.9 million sellout, according to an April 4, 2023 submission to the New York State Attorney General. The principals of the sponsor, 779 Flatbush PropCo LLC, were Oleg Gandelman, Eric Safyan, David Schwarz, and Lotzi Schwartz.

The property is a new development, but through a major alteration and not a new building. In June 2019, Oren Sauberman of RW 779 Flatbush LLC, the former owner of the property, submitted a major alteration application for the property, at the time a 2,143 square-foot commercial (COM) building. The plan was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings on June 26, 2019 under job number 321594119 and was permitted on January 17, 2022. It calls for an increase in the size of the building from a one-story building with no dwelling units to a multi-story building with 27 dwelling units.

The property

The retail building in Flatbush has 4,624 square feet of built space and 15,675 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 20,292 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has two buildings with frontage of 50 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 5,073 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R7A which allows for up to 4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The most recent loan totaled $6.5 million and was provided by Parkview Financial on July 15, 2021.

Prior sales and revenue

This property was sold for $3.1 million on August 9, 2016.

The 4,624-square-foot property generated revenue of $211,135 or $46 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

Development

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has received $7,560 in ECB penalties and $9,410 in OATH penalties in the last year.

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months.

The neighborhood

In Flatbush, The majority, or 54 percent of the 37.4 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 22 percent of the space. In sales, Flatbush has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $392 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 19th highest in Brooklyn. For development, Flatbush has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 14th highest in Brooklyn. It had 1.2 million 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 13 of the 32 commercial properties representing 422,124 square feet of the 666,508 square feet. The largest owner is Barry Hers, followed by Bluejay Management and then David F. Schwarz. On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 59,763 square feet. The largest is a 43-unit, 32,956 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Marc Jacobowitz and filed by Marc Jacobowitz with plans filed March 30, 2020 and permitted January 28, 2022. The second largest is a 37-unit, 26,807 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Ofer Prager with plans filed January 25, 2016 and it has not been permitted yet.

The owner

The PincusCo database currently indicates that David F. Schwarz owned at least one commercial property in New York City with 4,624 square feet and a city-determined market value of None. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $6.5 million in debt, borrowed from Parkview Financial. The portfolio consists of at least a single retail property. It is located in Brooklyn.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 779 Flatbush Avenue, PincusCo identified seven commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those seven items, one was in new building development. It was a new building permit issued on January 28, 2022 for a 32,956-square-foot residential (R-2) building with 43 residential units at 45 Lenox Road. One of those seven items was a sale which New Empire Corp. bought the 5,411-square-foot, one-unit retail building (K1) on 765 Flatbush Avenue and four other properties for $18 million from Steven Neuman on November 3, 2022. Of those seven items, five were loans above $5 million totaling $108.4 million. The most recent of the five was New Empire Corp. in which borrowed $10 million from Columbia Capital secured by the 5,411-square-foot, one-unit retail building (K1) on 765 Flatbush Avenue and four other properties on November 3, 2022.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.