Yitzchok Katz signs $78.4M refi with Affinius for 116 units in LIC

Yitzchok Katz through the entity 39th Ave Holdings 1 LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender Affinius Capital through the entity SM Finance III LLC valued at $78.4 million for two adjacent new development projects including the 64-unit 38-38 32nd Street and the 52-unit at 32-03 39th Avenue in Long Island City, Queen.
The deal closed on August 15, 2024 and was recorded on August 21, 2024. The prior lender was G4 Capital Partners which held debt that had an original loan amount of $72.5 million.
On these lots, there are two active construction projects. The largest, Q00683048, is a new building project at 38-38 32nd Street on tax lot 29, for a 64-unit, 43,871-square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by AHRC New York City and filed by Rafel Salim with plans filed March 11, 2022 and permitted January 10, 2024. The second, Q00684765, is a major alteration project at 32-03 39th Avenue on tax lot 30, for a 52-unit, 48,356-square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by AHRC New York City and filed by Rafel Salim with plans filed March 10, 2022 and permitted January 25, 2023.
The signatory for Yitzchok Katz was Yitzchok Katz. The signatory for Affinius Capital was Jeffrey Fastov. Affinius was formerly known as Square Mile Capital Management.

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 three DOB violations, $15,625 in ECB penalties, and $21,490 in OATH penalties in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Long Island City, The bulk, or 32 percent of the 60.2 million square feet of commercial built space are industrial buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 31 percent of the space. In sales, Long Island City has the 8th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $1.1 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Long Island City is the 8th most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 5.4 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 block

On the tax block of 32-03 39th Avenue, PincusCo has identified the owners of two of the eight commercial properties representing 45,049 square feet of the 85,109 square feet. The two identified owners are Aidi Xu and Yitzchok Katz.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 47 percent of the 85,109 square feet of built space are industrial buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 26 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Yitzchok Katz owned at least 19 commercial properties with 185 residential units in New York City with 232,679 square feet and a city-determined market value of $34.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $301.2 million in debt, with top three lenders as G4 Capital Partners, Slate Property Group, and Popular Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 57 percent of the 232,679 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 18 percent of the space. The bulk, or 66 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Queens next at 34 percent of the space.

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