EMP Capital signs $21.5M construction loan with Dime for 69-unit project in Crown Heights

Elie Pariente’s EMP Capital Group through the entity EMP Grand Pacific LLC as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender Dime Community Bank valued at $21.5 million for the corner development parcel at 979-985 Pacific Street in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. The deal closed on January 21, 2022 and was recorded on April 18, 2022.

The site has an alternate address of 979 Pacific Street, and there EMP filed plans for a 69-unit, 55,957-square-foot mixed-use in December 2021.

PincusCo reported that EMP paid $14 million for another development site on the same city block that is not adjacent to this property. Last week he filed plans for a 193-unit building on that parcel at 1042 Atlantic Avenue.

EMP bought the 979-985 Pacific Street parcel on October 24, 2018, for $6 million. The signatory for EMP Capital Group was Elichai Pariente. Elichai “Elie” Pariente is the principal and founder of EMP Capital Group.

The property

The 985 Pacific Street parcel has frontage of 100 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 10,000 square feet. The zoning is R7D which allows for up to 4.2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $279,000.

Violations and lawsuits

The property was not involved in any lawsuits or bankruptcies in the past years. In addition, according to city public data, the property has not received any significant violations in the last year.

Development

On these lots, there is an active new building construction project. It is a new building project for a 69-unit, 55,957-square-foot R-2 building developed by Elie Pariente with plans filed December 1, 2020 and permitted January 31, 2022.

The neighborhood

In Crown Heights, the bulk, or 27 percent of the 66.4 million square feet of commercial built space are residential elevator buildings, with residential walkup buildings next occupying 27 percent of the space. In sales, Crown Heights has 1.2 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $336.3 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 11th highest in Brooklyn. For development, Crown Heights has 1.7 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 12th highest in Brooklyn. It had 1.6 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 2 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of seven of the 24 commercial properties representing 105,465 square feet of the 176,173 square feet. The largest owner is CubeSmart, followed by EMP Capital Group and then Rachel Surizon. There are three active new building construction projects totaling 277,950 square feet. The largest is a 193-unit, 213,849-square-foot R-2 building developed by Elie Pariente with plans filed April 14, 2022 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a 69-unit, 55,957-square-foot R-2 building developed by Elie Pariente with plans filed December 1, 2020 and permitted January 31, 2022.

The majority, or 55 percent of the 198,373 square feet of built space are industrial buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 20 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that EMP Capital Group owned at least three commercial properties with 46,324 square feet and a city-determined market value of $17.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $14 million in debt, borrowed from Ready Capital. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 60 percent of the 46,324 square feet of built space are industrial properties, with residential elevator properties next occupying 40 percent of the space. The bulk, or 60 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Manhattan next at 40 percent of the space.

Surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 985 Pacific Street, Pincusco identified nine commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months.
Of those nine items, two were in new building development. There were one new building permit application and one new building permit. The most recent of these two items was a filing on December 10, 2021 for a 31,580-square-foot R-2 building with 46 residential units at 527 Grand Avenue.
Of those nine items, two were for major renovation including a certificate of occupancy change. They were two permit applications with a total initial cost of $1.8 million. The most recent of these two items was the filing on February 1, 2022 for a 8,250-square-foot A-2 building with zero residential units at 535 Grand Avenue.
One of those nine items was a sale which Grand Units LLC bought the 0-square-foot development site (V1) on GRAND Avenue and one other property for $5.2 million from Rachel Surizon on January 21, 2022.
Of those nine items, four were loans above $5 million totaling $45.7 million. The most recent of the four was Nadine N. Oelsner which borrowed $8.5 million from Knighthead Funding secured by the 0-square-foot development site (V1) on 962 Pacific Street on March 7, 2022.

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