Yitzchok Katz ups units by 51 at Williamsburg development, for total of 185

In a new land use filing, developer Yitzchok Katz disclosed a higher unit count of 185 apartments for a proposed new development at 575 Grand Street, also known as 597 Grand Street, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Katz filed the land use application on March 17, 2023, that was part of a Fresh Certification to bring a grocery store to the project. The new filing discloses an increase in the number of residential units from 134 given in the latest New York City Department of Buildings plan B00653960.

According to the new filing, the Fresh Certification is to facilitate a new mixed-use nine-story, 146,446-square-foot development with 185 units and approximately 20,000 square feet of floor area for a FRESH food store.
That contrast with the plan Katz submitted for a 134-unit, 93,259 square-foot residential (R-2) building at 575 Grand Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on February 3, 2022 under job number B00653960. It calls for the construction of a seven-story building. The project is described in the filing as: development hub application to be assigned to hub; proposed 7 story and cellar mixed use building.

The property

The parcel has frontage of 100 feet and is 275 feet deep with a total lot size of 27,500 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is C4-4A which allows for up to 4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 4 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $2.2 million. The most recent loan totaled $9.3 million and was provided by SCALE Lending on March 22, 2022.

Prior sales and revenue

This property was sold by Tapps Supermarkets for $42.5 million to Yitzchok Katz on March 22, 2022.

The 8,500-square-foot property generated revenue of $273,152 or $32 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

Development

Yitzchok Katz submitted a new building construction project for a 134-unit, 93,259 square-foot residential (R-2) building at 575 Grand Street. The plan was filed on February 3, 2022. It calls for the construction of a 75-foot tall, seven-story building and was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings under job number B00653960. The project is described in the filing as: development hub application to be assigned to hub; proposed 7 story and cellar mixed use building.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has received $7,500 in ECB penalties and $7,500 in OATH penalties in the last year.

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months.

The neighborhood

In Williamsburg, The bulk, or 39 percent of the 49.7 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 6th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $2.3 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Williamsburg is the 6th most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 4.4 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 this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of four of the 15 commercial properties representing 23,405 square feet of the 75,813 square feet. The largest owner is Diana Sutowski, followed by Manjula Mukhopadhyay and then Paul Pollak. On the tax block, there were three new building construction projects totaling 195,993 square feet. The largest is a 88-unit, 94,850 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Pat Conte with plans filed December 11, 2015 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a 134-unit, 93,259 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Yitzchok Katz and filed by Yitzchok Katz with plans filed February 3, 2022 and permitted April 4, 2022.

The owner

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Yitzchok Katz owned at least 20 commercial properties with 117 residential units in New York City with 199,297 square feet and a city-determined market value of $34.9 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $357.4 million in debt, with top three lenders as G4 Capital Partners, Slate Property Group, and SCALE Lending respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 44 percent of the 199,297 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 17 percent of the space. The bulk, or 84 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Queens next at 16 percent of the space.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 581 Grand Street, PincusCo identified five commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those five items, one was in new building development. It was a new building permit issued on February 24, 2023 for a 17,283-square-foot residential (R-2) building with 22 residential units at 566 Grand Street. Of those five items, one was for major renovation including a certificate of occupancy change. It was a permit issued on June 21, 2021 for the $495,762 renovation of 3,385-square-foot residential (R-3) building with one residential units at 227 Leonard Street. One of those five items was a sale which Corner Street Capital bought the 8,988-square-foot, 12-unit rental (D1) on 555 Grand Street for $9.6 million from Joel Schwartz on October 18, 2022. Of those five items, two were loans above $5 million totaling $14.8 million. The most recent of the two was Green Street Group in which borrowed $9.5 million from ConnectOne Bank secured by the 0-square-foot development site (V1) on 566 Grand Street on January 5, 2023.

Land Use LINK https://zap.planning.nyc.gov/projects/2022K0283

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