Turnbridge Equities pays $15.2M for three bankrupt Easco Boiler industrial properties in Hunts Point

Turnbridge Equities through the entity Leggett Avenue Property LLC paid $15.2 million for three industrial properties in Hunts Point, the Bronx,  including 1173 Leggett Avenue,  1175 Leggett Avenue and the industrial building (F1) at Grinnell Place. The properties were owned by Easco Boiler Corp. through the entity Leggett Real Estate Holdings, LLC, which filed for bankruptcy protection in June 2022, as PincusCo reported at the time.

The deal closed on December 5, 2022 and was recorded on December 12, 2022. The three properties have 26,150 square feet of built space and 75,024 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 101,168 square feet according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $583 and the price per buildable square foot is $150 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 signatory for Easco Boiler Corp. was Tyren Eastmond. The signatory for Turnbridge Equities was Ryan Nelson. This is a sale through the bankruptcy.

According to city records, Easco refinanced 10 properties in the neighborhood in April 2021, increasing its debt to $16 million provided by the private lender Edgewood Capital Advisors. That lender is threatening to foreclose, according to the bankruptcy petition. The debt service on the bridge loan consumed the vast majority of Easco’s cash flow, since all loans were at 12% or higher interest.

Turnbridge Equities was the stalking horse bidder in the bankruptcy through the entity TBE RE Acquisitions Co II LLC. The Edgewood debt covered 10 properties, but this purchase covers only three parcels, outlined in red. No Acris transfers have been recorded for the other seven parcels.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Turnbridge Equities purchased two properties in two transactions for a total of $22.5 million and sold one property in one transaction for a total of $24.8 million over the past 24 months.
The seller Easco Boiler Corp. had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period. The three properties with a total of 26,150 square feet of built space generated revenue of $411,043 per year or $16 per square foot. The sale price per square foot was $583.

Violations and lawsuits

The properties were involved in zero lawsuits and one bankruptcy over the past two years. The bankruptcy was filed on June 27, 2022, by Tyren Eastmond and Easco Boiler Corp. citing assets of $16 million. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have received $312 in ECB penalties and $312 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $5 million on this tax lot.

The neighborhood

In Hunts Point, the majority, or 59 percent of the 14.5 million square feet of commercial built space are industrial buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 15 percent of the space. In sales, Hunts Point has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $392.7 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 2nd highest in Bronx. For development, Hunts Point has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 324,082 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 2 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On the tax block of Grinnell Place, PincusCo has identified the owners of eight of the 48 commercial properties representing 53,317 square feet of the 427,549 square feet. The two identified owners are Arlington Leon Eastmond Jr. and Jack Guttman.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 100 percent of the 427,549 square feet of built space are industrial buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 0 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Turnbridge Equities owned at least four commercial properties in New York City with 259,636 square feet and a city-determined market value of $23.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $454.3 million in debt, with top three lenders as KKR & Co., Starwood Capital Group, and Aresif Lender Llc respectively. Within the portfolio, all identified are industrial properties. The bulk, or 49 percent of the built space, is in Queens, with Brooklyn next at 34 percent of the space.

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