Stormfield Capital acquires 5-unit Greenpoint property in $5.1M bankruptcy sale

Former lender Stormfield Capital through the entity Stormfield Capital Funding I, LLC through a $5.1 million bankruptcy sale acquired the 5-unit building at 135 Bayard Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The former owners were David Kenner and Rafi Manor.

On the lot, there was a major alteration construction project, 321105683, for a five-unit, 6,723 square-foot residential (R-2) building. The project was submitted by M1 Development and filed by Hadas Hakmon with plans filed April 13, 2015 and permitted June 15, 2016. On the tax lot, the most recent condominium plan was filed by FREEMAN VILLA LLC to create 5 residential units in a building at 135 Bayard Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, called Bayard Pointthat has a $8.9 million sellout, according to an June 24, 2016 submission to the New York State Attorney General. The principal of the sponsor, FREEMAN VILLA LLC, was Rafi Manor.

The deal closed on December 5, 2024 and was recorded on December 26, 2024. The property has 6,749 square feet of built space and 750 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 7,500 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $759 and the price per buildable square foot is $683 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 former owners bought the property on August 19, 2014, for $2 million. The signatory for the bankruptcy court was Allan B. Mendelsohn. The signatory for Stormfield Capital was Wesley Carpenter. The contract date was November 11, 2024. The former owners placed the property in bankruptcy through index number 8-23-74049-reg. Stormfield Capital filed a pre-foreclosure in 2020 under index number 524160/2020, related to a $4.7 million loan.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Stormfield Capital had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller David Kenner had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period. The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Afi Anor, head officer and Sharlie Arkins, site manager. The business entity is Freeman Villa Llc.

The property

The building with 4 residential units in Greenpoint has 6,749 square feet of built space and 750 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 7,500 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 25 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 2,500 square feet. The zoning is M1-2/R6A which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing and up to 3 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.5 million.

Violations and lawsuits

The property was involved in one lawsuit and one bankruptcy over the past two years. The bankruptcy was filed on October 31, 2023, by David Kenner and Rafi Manor citing assets of $10.3 million. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $125 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of six of the nine commercial properties representing 40,299 square feet of the 49,369 square feet. The largest owner is Sidharth Lakhani, followed by Frank De’Angelis and then Hajrije Tahiraj.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 6,288 square feet. It is a six-unit, 6,288 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Hai Feng Mai with plans filed January 25, 2022 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 40 percent of the 49,369 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 33 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Rafi Manor owned at least one commercial property with eight residential units in New York City with 6,448 square feet and a city-determined market value of $1.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $3.2 million in debt, borrowed from Stormfield Capital. The portfolio consists of at least a single C1 property. It is located in Brooklyn.

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