Churchill to buy Manhattan, Brooklyn properties for $71M

Churchill Real Estate Holdings, a Soho-based lender and development firm, is nearing a $71 million deal for two rental buildings in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

The firm is in contract to purchase 809 Madison Avenue for $55 million and 57 Jay Street in Dumbo for $16 million, according to the firm’s co-founder and partner Justin Ehrlich. The deals are expected to close by the end of June.

At 57 Jay Street, a 27,000-square-foot apartment building, Ehrlich said the firm is paying close to $580 a square foot, and would inherit a $7.5 million loan from Valley National Bank. The seller was GRJ, made up of brothers Graham and Gregory Jones.

“It’s an unbelievable basis,” he said, adding that seven of 23 units are free market vacant units. “So there’s a lot of upside.”

Across the river, 809 Madison Avenue spans 38,000 square feet, with 11 stories of residential and ground-floor retail. Three-bedroom units at the Lenox Hill building are asking between $4,500 and $15,000 per month, according to StreetEasy.

Churchill is seeking a $40 million loan to finance its purchase of that property from the Parkoff Organization. The deal pencils out close to $1,450. Parkoff could not immediately be reached for comment.

Churchill owns a dozen properties in New York, but is better known for its debt platform, which has provided $1.5 billion in loans since it launched in 2014.

Last year, Churchill accused Six Sigma NYC of misappropriating funds from its budget and demanding kickbacks from a contractor, after it financed the Six Sigma’s project at 435 West 19th Street.