Sycamore Birch Management signs $39.1M construction loan for 82-unit project in West Farms

Sycamore Birch Management through the entity 864 BPS Apartments LLC as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender Webster Bank valued at $39.1 million for the 82-unit development at 864 Bronx Park South in West Farms, Bronx.

On the lot, there is one active new building construction project for an 82-unit, 65,940 square-foot residential (R-2) building. The project was submitted by Michael Pilla with plans filed March 26, 2019 and permitted December 26, 2023.

The deal closed on January 23, 2024 and was recorded on January 31, 2024.

The signatory for Sycamore Birch Management was Peter Bourbeau. The signatory for Webster Bank was Glenn P. Lunde. Sycamore Birch Management executives include Mark Bourbeau. Michael Pilla is with DP Group.

The property

The lot is irregular. The zoning is R7-1 which allows for up to 3.44 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $100 in OATH penalties in the last year.

The neighborhood

In West Farms, The majority, or 66 percent of the 5.5 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 19 percent of the space. In sales, West Farms has had very little sales volume relative to other neighborhoods with $112.3 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, West Farms has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 597,721 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 11 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of four of the 11 commercial properties representing 231,168 square feet of the 240,988 square feet. The largest owner is Prana Investments, followed by Mendel Kaff and then Aquinas Housing Corporation.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 68,472 square feet. The largest is a 82-unit, 65,940 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Michael Pilla with plans filed March 26, 2019 and permitted December 26, 2023. The second largest is a two-unit, 2,532 square-foot residential (R-3) building submitted by Samuel Shrem with plans filed October 5, 2020 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 75 percent of the 240,988 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 25 percent of the space.

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