BK landlord Joel Schwartz to IPO in Israel

The offering includes 37 properties valued at $326M

From top: 125 Borinquen Place and 105-107 Vanderveer Street (Credit: De-Jan Lu Architects and Google Maps)
From top: 125 Borinquen Place and 105-107 Vanderveer Street (Credit: De-Jan Lu Architects and Google Maps)

Developers Joel and Shaindy Schwartz plan to take their Brooklyn multifamily holdings public in Israel, in an effort to raise up to $80 million in bonds on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

The Brooklyn-based developers filed a prospectus for their newly incorporated company, Noble Assets, detailing a 37-property portfolio, valued at $326 million, based primarily in Williamsburg, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Bushwick.

According to the prospectus, about $35 million of the funds raised will be used to repay a repeat group of investors who’ve contributed to many of the Schwartzes’ projects over the years.

The portfolio includes 27 income-producing multifamily properties, with a total $9.5 million in NOI. The 304-unit rental portfolio is Williamsburg heavy, with 146 units across 16 buildings — followed by 77 units in two Bushwick buildings, a 49-unit rental at 105 Vanderveer Street and a 28-unit building at 1433-1439 Dekalb Avenue.

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The remaining 10 properties are under development, and will include an additional 225 rental units once completed. The largest development is a 125-unit building at 125 Borinquen Place in Williamsburg, scheduled for completion in 2018. Schwartz owns 50 percent of the property.

Schwartz entered the real estate business in the early 2000s, and rode the wave of transformation that swept Williamsburg and the surrounding neighborhoods in the ensuing decade. In the filing, Schwartz disclosed that an early development, a 130-unit condo project in Greenpoint, ran into problems during the recession, and the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The Schwartzes join a list of Brooklyn-based real estate companies who have IPO’d in Israel, including Yoel Goldman’s All Year Management and Abe Leser’s Leser Group.

Noble has not yet been rated, and will require approval from the Israeli Securities Authority before moving forward with the initial bond issuance.