The Bridge signs $40.8M construction loan for 91-unit project in Harlem

The Bridge through the entity 39 West 128th Street LP as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender JPMorgan Chase and NYS Homeless Housing and Assistance Program valued at $40.8 million for the 91-unit new construction project at 39 West 128th Street in Harlem, Manhattan.
On the lot, there is one active new building construction project, 121209575, for a 91-unit, 60,278 square-foot residential (R-2) building. The project was submitted by Taso Vassiliou with plans filed July 20, 2021 and permitted December 13, 2024.
The deal closed on December 18, 2024 and was recorded on January 15, 2025.
The signatory for The Bridge was Carole Gordon. The signatory for JPMorgan Chase and NYS Homeless Housing and Assistance Program was Dana Greenberg.

Prior sales and revenue

The owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Taso Vassiliou, head officer and Alex Rodriguez, officer. The business entities are The Bridge and St Philip’S West 28 St Corp.

The property

The parcel has frontage of 125 feet and is 99 feet deep with a total lot size of 12,490 square feet. The zoning is R7-2 which allows for up to 3.44 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $3.6 million.

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 not received any significant violations in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Harlem, The bulk, or 43 percent of the 81.1 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 30 percent of the space. In sales, Harlem has 3.2 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $837.6 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 11th highest in Manhattan. For development, Harlem has 2.2 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 16th highest in Manhattan. It had 2.5 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 12 of the 21 commercial properties representing 227,815 square feet of the 320,656 square feet. The largest owner is Samuel Kairy, followed by Genesis Companies and then Ny Residential Works.
On the tax block, there were three new building construction projects totaling 66,650 square feet. The largest is a 91-unit, 60,278 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Taso Vassiliou with plans filed July 20, 2021 and permitted December 13, 2024. The second largest is a two-unit, 3,186 square-foot residential (R-3) building submitted by Kamran Makhani with plans filed December 2, 2020 and permitted October 3, 2023.

The majority, or 62 percent of the 320,656 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 33 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that The Bridge owned at least 15 commercial properties with 482 residential units in New York City with 368,039 square feet and a city-determined market value of $58.1 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $197.8 million in debt, with top three lenders as NYS Housing Finance Agency, JPMorgan Chase, and CPC Mortgage Company respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 65 percent of the 368,039 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 13 percent of the space. The bulk, or 39 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Bronx next at 39 percent of the space.

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