EJS GROUP SIGNS $112.5M CONSTRUCTION LOAN WITH BANK OZK FOR 36-UNIT CONDO IN LENOX HILL

EJS Group through the entity EJS 1303 Third, LLC as borrower signed a construction loan with lender Bank OZK valued at $112.5 million for the 36-unit condominium project at 200 East 75th Street in Lenox Hill, Manhattan.

On the lot, there is one active new building construction project for a 38-unit, 97,569 square-foot R-2 building. The project was submitted by EJS and filed by Bill Shaughnessy with plans filed May 9, 2022 and permitted February 2, 2023. On the tax lot, the most recent condominium plan was filed by EJS 1303 THIRD, LLC to create 36 residential units and 1 commercial units in a building at 200 East 75th Street in Lenox Hill, Manhattan, called 200 East 75th Street Condominium, according to an June 16, 2023 submission to the New York State Attorney General. The principal of the sponsor, EJS 1303 THIRD, LLC, was Theodore Segal. It is unclear why the condo plan calls for 36 units and the DOB plan calls for 38 units.

The deal closed on September 29, 2023 and was recorded on October 5, 2023. The prior lender was Signature Bank which held debt that had an original loan amount of $28 million.

The owner bought the property on March 4, 2021, for $13.6 million. The signatory for EJS Group was Theodore Zellie Segal. The signatory for Bank OZK was Cliffton Hill.

The property

The parcel has frontage of 42 feet and is 75 feet deep with a total lot size of 8,163 square feet. The zoning is C1-9 which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 10 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.1 million. The most recent loan totaled $28 million and was provided by Signature Bank on July 11, 2022.

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 not received any significant violations in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Lenox Hill, The bulk, or 35 percent of the 52 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 28 percent of the space. In sales, Lenox Hill has the highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $4.6 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Lenox Hill has 3.6 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 6th highest in Manhattan. It had 3.6 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.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 16 of the 26 commercial properties representing 114,673 square feet of the 207,883 square feet. The largest owner is Roni Abudi, followed by Reda Holdings and then Premier Equities.

On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 209,439 square feet. The largest is a 47-unit, 111,870 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Sara Rubenstein with plans filed March 7, 2018 and permitted October 24, 2018. The second largest is a 38-unit, 97,569 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by EJS and filed by Bill Shaughnessy with plans filed May 9, 2022 and permitted February 2, 2023.

The majority, or 51 percent of the 207,883 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 38 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that EJS Group owned at least four commercial properties in New York City.