Witnick signs $6.2M refi loan with Arbor for 13-unit walkup in Kips Bay

Witnick Real Estate Partners through the entity 212 E 29th Partners LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender Arbor Realty Trust through the entity Arbor Agency Lending, LLC valued at $6.2 million for the 13-unit residential walkup building (C7) at 212 East 29th Street in Kips Bay, Manhattan.
The deal closed on May 11, 2023 and was recorded on May 17, 2023. The prior lender was Signature Bank receiver which held debt that had an original loan amount of $4.6 million.
The property has 9,460 square feet of built space and 419 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 9,872 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $655 and the price per buildable square foot is $628 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 December 28, 2021, for $6.2 million. The signatory for Witnick Real Estate Partners was Isaac Abraham. The signatory for Arbor Realty Trust was Kenneth Dowling.

Prior sales and revenue

The owner according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development is Ramiel Ben Yehuda, head officer. The business entity is 212 E 29th Partners Llc. The 9,460-square-foot property generated revenue of $564,948 or $60 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The residential walkup building with 13 residential units in Kips Bay has 9,460 square feet of built space and 419 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 9,872 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 25 feet and is 98 feet deep with a total lot size of 2,468 square feet. The zoning is R8B which allows for up to 4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $3.3 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.

Development

There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $1 million on this tax lot.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of eight of the 22 commercial properties representing 104,249 square feet of the 345,338 square feet. The largest owner is Witnick Real Estate Partners, followed by Vintage Group and then Martin Baumrind.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 53 percent of the 345,338 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 31 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Witnick Real Estate Partners owned at least 33 commercial properties with 572 residential units in New York City with 373,486 square feet and a city-determined market value of $118.7 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $107 million in debt, with top three lenders as Dime Community Bank, Signature Bank, and Customers Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 81 percent of the 373,486 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with elevator properties next occupying 18 percent of the space. The bulk, or 70 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 30 percent of the space.

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