VAJA Group signs $10.8M construction loan for 22-unit project in Belmont

VAJA Group through the entity Bathgate Quarry LLC as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender NorthEast Community Bank through the entity Northeast Community Bank valued at $10.8 million for the industrial building (G7) at 2176 Bathgate Avenue in Belmont, Bronx.
On the lot, there is one active new building construction project, X00700005, for a 22-unit, 14,991 square-foot R-2 building. The project was submitted by Moses Freund of the VAJA Group with plans filed March 22, 2022 and permitted June 4, 2024.
The deal closed on August 16, 2024 and was recorded on August 22, 2024. The property has 16,587 square feet of buildable rights according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per buildable square foot is $651 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 owner bought the property on July 11, 2023, for $1.4 million. The signatory for VAJA Group was Moses Freund.

The property

The parcel has frontage of 50 feet and is 110 feet deep with a total lot size of 5,529 square feet. The zoning is R6A which allows for up to 3 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $328,000.

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 $2,500 in ECB penalties and $3,400 in OATH penalties in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Belmont/Little Italy, The bulk, or 43 percent of the 14.3 million square feet of commercial built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 26 percent of the space. In sales, Belmont/Little Italy has had very little sales volume relative to other neighborhoods with $163.5 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Belmont/Little Italy has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 729,462 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 5 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 10 of the 21 commercial properties representing 104,739 square feet of the 167,539 square feet. The largest owner is Genesis Realty Group, followed by Israel Frankel and then Anthony Gazivoda.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 31,368 square feet. The largest is a 28-unit, 16,377 square-foot institutional (I-1) building submitted by William Fernandez with plans filed June 22, 2017 and permitted September 30, 2020. The second largest is a 22-unit, 14,991 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Moses Freund with plans filed March 22, 2022 and permitted June 4, 2024.

The majority, or 57 percent of the 167,539 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with office buildings next occupying 22 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that VAJA Group owned at least 17 commercial properties with 151 residential units in New York City with 132,538 square feet and a city-determined market value of $14.5 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $40.8 million in debt, borrowed from Northeast Community Bank and NorthEast Community Bank. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 29 percent of the 132,538 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with K2 properties next occupying 20 percent of the space. The bulk, or 91 percent of the built space, is in Bronx, with Queens next at 9 percent of the space.

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