Watermark Capital Group signs 99-year lease valued at $10.1M for dev site in Boerum Hill

Wolfe Landau’s Watermark Capital Group through the entity Hoyt Complex LLC signed a 99-year ground lease with Jacob Marciano through the entity Jezin LLC for the four-unit mixed-use building (S9) at 208 Livingston Street and 42 to 50 Hoyt Street in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, in a deal valued at $10.1 million. The expected use ground up development.
The lease was signed on September 13, 2024 and was recorded on September 18, 2024. The six properties have 28,104 square feet of built space and 64,358 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 92,440 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $358 and the price per buildable square foot is $108 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 Jacob Marciano was Jacob Marciano. The signatory for Watermark Capital Group was Wolfe Landau. This is a 99-year ground lease. The landlord gets first offer to buy the ground lease, and Watermark has first offer to buy the fee.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Watermark Capital Group purchased eight properties in eight transactions for a total of $120.9 million and sold one property in one transaction for a total of $4 million over the past 24 months.
The seller Jacob Marciano had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period.

The property

The mixed-use building in Boerum Hill has 28,104 square feet of built space and 64,358 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 92,440 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The zoning is C6-4 which allows for up to 10 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 10 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.8 million. The most recent loan totaled $5.7 million and was provided by JPMorgan Chase on August 25, 2021.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the properties for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have received $2,900 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

For the tax lot buildings, one out of the six buildings received a initial certificate of occupancy in the last ten years. There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $1 million on this tax lot.

The neighborhood

In Boerum Hill, The bulk, or 32 percent of the 9 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 16 percent of the space. In sales, Boerum Hill has 1.3 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $352.8 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 21st highest in Brooklyn. For development, Boerum Hill has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 16th highest in Brooklyn. It had 1.2 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 13 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On the tax block of 208 Livingston Street, PincusCo has identified the owners of eight of the 11 commercial properties representing 36,254 square feet of the 123,026 square feet. The largest owner is Jacob Marciano, followed by Stuart Venner and then Edison Properties.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 68 percent of the 123,026 square feet of built space are office buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 25 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Jacob Marciano owned at least seven commercial properties with 28 residential units in New York City with 34,572 square feet and a city-determined market value of $16.1 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $5.7 million in debt, borrowed from JPMorgan Chase. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 81 percent of the 34,572 square feet of built space are mixed-use properties, with walkup properties next occupying 19 percent of the space. They are all located in Brooklyn.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Watermark Capital Group owned at least 125 commercial properties with 1,448 residential units in New York City with 1,491,735 square feet and a city-determined market value of $286.9 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $151.5 million in debt, with top three lenders as BridgeCity Capital, Signature Bank, and Bridge City Funding respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 55 percent of the 1,491,735 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with elevator properties next occupying 21 percent of the space. The bulk, or 93 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Queens next at 7 percent of the space.

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