Yossel Lichtman signs $22M refi for 50-unit development in East Flatbush
Yossel Lichtman through the entity 219 Lenox Realty LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender Valley National Bank valued at $22 million for the development building (V1) at 219 Lenox Road in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.
On the lot, there is one active new building construction project for a 50-unit, 34,299 square-foot R-2 building. The project was submitted by Yossel Lichtman and filed by Joseph Lichtman with plans filed February 13, 2020 and permitted November 23, 2021.
The deal closed on April 4, 2023 and was recorded on April 19, 2023. The prior lender was Bank of Princeton which held debt that had an original loan amount of $16.6 million.
The owner bought the property on January 6, 2020, for $5 million. The signatory for Yossel Lichtman was Yossel Lichtman. The signatory for Valley National Bank was Terence J. McArdle.
The property
The parcel has frontage of 50 feet and is 200 feet deep with a total lot size of 9,999 square feet. The zoning is R7-1 which allows for up to 3.44 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.1 million. The most recent loan totaled $13.5 million and was provided by Bank of Princeton on May 12, 2021.
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 received $5,000 in ECB penalties and $12,540 in OATH penalties in the last year.
The neighborhood
In East Flatbush, The bulk, or 32 percent of the 42.6 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 24 percent of the space. In sales, East Flatbush has had very little sales volume relative to other neighborhoods with $228 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, East Flatbush has 2.3 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 8th highest in Brooklyn. It had 2.3 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 5 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.
The block
On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 13 of the 18 commercial properties representing 564,767 square feet of the 634,529 square feet. The largest owner is Yossel Lichtman, followed by Yechiel Weinberger and then Miller Management.
On the tax block, there were three new building construction projects totaling 231,129 square feet. The largest is a 165-unit, 134,622 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by K2 Real Estate Partners and filed by Andrew Klein with plans filed December 20, 2019 and permitted December 16, 2021. The second largest is a 55-unit, 62,208 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Eli Karp with plans filed November 16, 2011 and permitted August 20, 2015.
The majority, or 81 percent of the 634,529 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 13 percent of the space.
The borrower
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Yossel Lichtman owned at least 31 commercial properties with 242 residential units in New York City with 192,379 square feet. The portfolio has $43.8 million in debt, with top three lenders as Bank of Princeton, Customers Bank, and Valley National Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 84 percent of the 192,379 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with elevator properties next occupying 12 percent of the space. The bulk, or 94 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Queens next at 6 percent of the space.
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