Time Equities to buy Venetian rentals in Midwood for $27M

Francis Greenburger’s real estate development firm Time Equities entered contract on Tuesday to acquire the six-story Venetian rental building in Brooklyn’s Midwood neighborhood for $27 million, The Real Deal has learned.

The 66,500-square-foot property at 421-447 Avenue P, near East 2nd Street, holds 33 apartments. The seller-to-be, Sitt Asset Management, developed the Venetian as a condominium site prior to the onset of the market downturn.

Sitt Asset bought the development site in 2002 and 2003 for $9 million, and received a $54 million construction loan from Citibank in 2007 to launch the ground-up project, as TRD reported. Shortly after the building was complete in 2010, the owner sought to buy back the loan from Citi at the discounted price of $25 million. The Venetian opened its doors in 2012.

The deal is slated to close in December, according to sources close to negotiations.

Stephen Shapiro and Richard Baxter of JLL’s New York Capital Markets Group are representing Sitt Asset Management. Shapiro and Baxter declined to comment. Daniel Rahmani of Venture Capital Properties and Harry Kantor and Chris Pulling of Time Equities represented the would-be buyer. 

The European Renaissance-style building’s residential component is 97 percent leased and the ground-floor retail space is 88 percent occupied with tenants with long-term leases.
The apartments range from one- to four-bedrooms and average 1,782 square feet. There are four penthouses – each with wraparound balconies – that are currently rented for $6,000 to $7,000 per month. Average rent at the property is $4,900 per month.

Amenities include a fitness center, lounge, children’s playroom and underground parking for tenants.

In July, Time Equities launched sales at its 64-story luxury residential tower at 50 West Street in the Financial District, as previously reported.