Timber Equities signs $19M construction loan for 29-unit development in Fieldston

Timber Equities through the entity 3893 Waldo Lp as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender Bank Hapoalim through the entity Bank Hapoalim B.M. valued at $19 million for the development building (V0) at 3893 Waldo Avenue in Fieldston, Bronx.
The deal closed on November 8, 2022 and was recorded on November 21, 2022.
The owner bought the property on October 9, 2018, for $1.8 million. The signatory for Timber Equities was Jeffrey Torkin.

The property

The 3893 Waldo Avenue parcel has frontage of 156 feet and is 163 feet deep with a total lot size of 8,700 square feet. The zoning is R6 which allows for up to 2.43 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $732,000.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property since September of 2020. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $19,870 in ECB penalties and $20,220 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

On the lot, there is one active new building construction project for a 29-unit, 19,648 square-foot R-2 building. The project was developed by Jeffrey Torkin with plans filed June 22, 2019 and permitted May 31, 2022.

The neighborhood

In Fieldston, the majority, or 73 percent of the 1.4 million square feet of commercial built space are specialty buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 19 percent of the space. In sales, Fieldston has the 33rd highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in Bronx with $29.2 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Fieldston has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 86,528 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 6 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of two of the six commercial properties representing 11,440 square feet of the 11,440 square feet. The identified owner is Maria Vidal.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 32,781 square feet. The largest is a 29-unit, 19,648-square-foot R-2 building developed by Jeffrey Torkin with plans filed June 22, 2019 and permitted January 19, 2021. The second largest is a 17-unit, 13,133-square-foot R-2 building developed by Mendel Klagsbrun with plans filed June 16, 2017 and permitted May 27, 2022.

The majority, or 100 percent of the 11,440 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with development buildings next occupying 0 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Timber Equities owned at least two commercial properties in New York City with 38,399 square feet and a city-determined market value of $1.4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $17.5 million in debt, borrowed from Bank Hapoalim. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 100 percent of the 38,399 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with industrial properties next occupying 0 percent of the space. They are all located in Bronx.

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