Yitzchak Tessler battles Isaac Hager over alleged $3M loan from 2020

Real estate developer Yitzchak Tessler, of Tessler Developments alleges he made a $3 million loan to Isaac Hager, who is also known as Yitzchok Hager, on February 10, 2020, but that loan has not been repaid. Tessler is seeking repayment of the loan and additional interest, which the filing says amounts to more than $4.3 million. Isaac Hager has developed properties through the firm Cornell Realty Management, as well.

The loan had an initial maturity date of the earlier of March 1, 2021 or “the 200 Kent Distribution Date.”

200 Kent Avenue is a 135,611-square-foot retail and office project in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, that Tessler and Hager developed but that was scheduled for a uniform commercial code auction in early March, as The Real Deal reported in December. The creditor is an affiliate of lender G4 Capital Partners, which provided an $84 million loan on February 10, 2020. That auction was adjourned.

Trader Joe’s is an anchor tenant in the building, and opened the store in December 2021. 

The dispute was disclosed in a complaint filed in the New York State Supreme Court April 10, 2024, in Manhattan. Case LINK

Court filings represent the position of one party and are not necessarily accurate or complete.

According to the complaint, “while Defendants did make one payment of $250,000 under the Note on May 27, 2022, to wit, more than a year after the Maturity Date, no other payments have been made… in accordance with the Note and crediting Defendants with their $250,000 payment made on May 27, 2022, Plaintiff is entitled to a judgment against Defendants, jointly and severally in the amount of $4,326,000, plus interest…”

The neighborhood

In Williamsburg, The bulk, or 39 percent of the 50.4 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 25 percent of the space. In sales, Williamsburg has the 4th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $2.2 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Williamsburg has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 2nd highest in Brooklyn. It had 4.6 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 9 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 200 Kent Avenue, PincusCo identified three commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those three items, one was in new building development. It was a new building permit issued on May 24, 2023 for a 17,155-square-foot residential (R-2) building with 24 residential units at 61 Metropolitan Avenue. Of those three items, one was for major renovation including a certificate of occupancy change. It was a permit issued on August 8, 2022 for the $274,495 renovation of zero-square-foot residential (R-2) building with 86 residential units at 157 Kent Avenue. One of those three items was a loan which Gabriel Grunblatt borrowed $7.5 million from S3 Capital secured by the 0-square-foot, 25-unit rental (D7) on METROPOLITAN Avenue on March 23, 2023.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.