Brookfield records purchases of 3 storage facilities for $91M, part of $184.7M one-day total

By Varvara Budetti

Brookfield Properties is continuing an expansion of its portfolio of storage facilities with the purchase of three additional assets for $90.9 million, property records recorded today show.

Three deals, which closed on January 27, 2022, and were recorded on March 4, 2022, show Brookfield buying three separate storage facilities in Brooklyn. Two were bought from Cayre Equities and one from Urban Storage Fund.

These recorded purchases follow two others which also closed on January 27 but were recorded earlier. The larger was a $48.2 million purchase for 2325 Hollers Avenue in Eastchester, Bronx, from Cayre Equities. The other was a $46.5 million purchase for 87-40 121st Street in Richmond Hill, Queens, from the Urban Storage Fund.

The five purchases that have been recorded represent a $184.7 million investment by Brookfield into storage facilities in New York.

In the new transactions, Brookfield bought the industrial buildings at 45 Clinton Avenue in Clinton Hill and 1654 Bushwick Avenue in Cypress Hills for $32 million and $26.6 million, respectively from Cayre Equities.

Jack Cayre was the signatory for Cayre Equities through the entities YYY Brooklyn Clinton, LLC  and CS Bushwick, LLC. David Cohen signed for Brookfield through the entities Oe 45 Clinton Avenue LLC and Oe 1654 Bushwick Avenue LLC.

Cayre Equities had purchased the 45 Clinton Avenue property on August 17, 2018, for $27 million. It has 66,633 square feet of built space according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $480 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 1654 Bushwick Avenue property was bought by Cayre on August 2, 2016, for $4.5 million. It has 79,077 square feet of built space according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $336 per the PincusCo analysis.

Brookfield also purchased 300 Sheffield Avenue in East New York, Brooklyn from Urban Storage Fund for $31.4 million. The property has 105,389 square feet of built space according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $297 per the PincusCo analysis. It was bought by Urban Storage Fund on March 20, 2015, for $10.3 million.

Jack Cayre signed for the purchase of 300 Sheffield Avenue through the entity Oe 356 Belmont Ave LLC. Robert E. Poole signed for Urban Storage Fund through the entity Urban-Sers Sheffield, LLC.

The three purchases recorded today were financed with a $56.3M acquisition loan from Wells Fargo.

Brookfield Properties has not yet responded to a PincusCo request for comment.

Prior sales and revenue

The 66,633-square-foot at 45 Clinton Avenue property generated revenue of $920,425 or $14 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The 105,389-square-foot property at 300 Sheffield Avenue generated revenue of $1.8 million or $17 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The 45 Clinton Avenue parcel has frontage of 204 feet and is 165 feet deep with a total lot size of 28,925 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is M1-2 which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $5.6 million.

The 1654 Bushwick Avenue parcel has frontage of 210 feet and is 230 feet deep with a total lot size of 32,730 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is M1-1 which allows for up to 1 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $7.3 million.

The 300 Sheffield Avenue parcel has frontage of 196 feet and is 195 feet deep with a total lot size of 37,852 square feet. The zoning is M1-4 which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $11.4 million.The most recent loan totaled $12.6 million and was provided by PNC Bank on July 29, 2020.

Violations and lawsuits

None of the properties were involved in any lawsuits or bankruptcies in the past years. According to city public data, the 1654 Bushwick Avenue property has received two DOB violations and $1,870 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

The building at 1654 Bushwick Avenue received its initial certificate of occupancy on March 30, 2021.

The neighborhood

In Clinton Hill, the bulk, or 36 percent of the 18.8 million square feet of built space are residential elevator buildings, with 1-4 family buildings next occupying 22 percent of the space. In sales, Clinton Hill has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $303.9 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 14th highest in Brooklyn. For development, Clinton Hill has 1.4 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 14th highest in Brooklyn. It had 1.3 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 7 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

In Cypress Hills, the majority, or 56 percent of the 20.9 million square feet of built space are 1-4 family buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 12 percent of the space. In sales, Cypress Hills has the 41st highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in Brooklyn with $19.6 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Cypress Hills has 1.4 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 16th highest in Brooklyn. It had 1.2 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 6 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There was one pre-foreclosure suit filed among other industrial buildings in the past 12 months.

In East New York, the bulk, or 31 percent of the 68.3 million square feet of built space are 1-4 family buildings, with residential elevator buildings next occupying 26 percent of the space. In sales, East New York has the 4th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $2.1 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, East New York has 2.5 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 8th highest in Brooklyn. It had 2.2 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 3 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. 

The block

On the tax block of 45 Clinton Avenue, PincusCo has identified the owners of three of the 11 commercial properties representing 24,500 square feet of the 202,105 square feet. The identified owner is David Shweky. There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block. The majority, or 63 percent of the 202,105 square feet of built space are industrial buildings, with office buildings next occupying 24 percent of the space.

On the tax block of 1654 Bushwick Avenue, PincusCo has identified the owners of one of the seven commercial properties representing 17,010 square feet of the 469,642 square feet. The identified owner is Jose Perez. There are two active new building construction projects totaling 33,075 square feet.  The majority, or 76 percent of the 469,642 square feet of built space are specialty buildings, with industrial buildings next occupying 23 percent of the space. 

On the tax block of 300 Sheffield Avenue, PincusCo has identified the owners of one of the 14 commercial properties representing 105,389 square feet of the 164,183 square feet. The identified owner is Urban Storage Fund. There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block. The majority, or 80 percent of the 164,183 square feet of built space are industrial buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 20 percent of the space. 

Surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 45 Clinton Avenue, Pincusco identified four commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months.
One of those four items was a sale which Meadow Partners bought the 184,411-square-foot, 80-unit rental (D6) on 39 Waverly Avenue for $67.2 million from HK Organization on November 13, 2019.
Of those four items, three were loans above $5 million totaling $97 million. The most recent of the three was David Shweky which borrowed $6.6 million from Bethpage Federal Credit Union secured by the 12,000-square-foot, one-unit industrial (E9) on 23 Clinton Avenue and two other properties on May 27, 2020.

Direct link to Acris document. link

PincusCo has not identified any commerial real estate items of interest within a 400-foot radius of 1654 Bushwick Avenue that occurred over the past 24 months.

Direct link to Acris document. link

PincusCo has not identified any commerial real estate items of interest within a 400-foot radius of 300 Sheffield Avenue that occurred over the past 24 months.

Direct link to Acris document. link