UPDATED, 00:47 a.m., May 1: Joel Schreiber’s Waterbridge Capital has closed on a $100 million-plus acquisition of Properties On Bustling North 3rd Street in Williamsburg, The Real Deal has learned. Waterbridge attempted to flip the properties to Brooklyn investor Chaim Miller shortly after entering contract in September, but that deal fell through, according to well-placed sources. Another source, however, maintains that Miller is still in the deal, and holds a 12.5 percent stake.
Waterbridge is buying 103-119 North 3rd Street as well as 188-190 Berry Street, which offer a total of 110,000 buildable square feet with more than 50,000 square feet of residential space. The properties house area hotspots such as Radegast Hall beer garden, brunch destination Egg, Mast Brothers Chocolate and Mexican restaurant Viva Toro — all of which are paying rents well below market rate, sources said.
The seller was the estate of Olga Sosa. Dagan LaCorte brokered the deal on behalf of the seller. Sources told TRD that Eastern Consolidated’s Gabriel Saffioti and Nicole Rabinowitsch brokered the deal on behalf of Waterbridge, but LaCorte claimed that was false.
“From someone who was involved day-to-day in this deal for sixteen months,”LaCorte told TRD during a phone interview Thursday night, “any claim that Eastern Consolidated had any role in this transaction whatsoever is bullshit.”
Saffioti and Rabinowitsch could not be reached for comment. Representatives for Waterbridge declined to comment.
In September, Waterbridge agreed to pay nearly $1,000 per square foot for the properties, but the very next month, tried to flip them to Miller for $106 million, as TRD reported. Sources familiar with the talks, however, said that although Miller signed a contract to buy the properties, he did not make the necessary deposit and the deal fell through. Another source, however, disputed those allegations, and said Miller is in the deal as a silent partner, and holds a 12.5 percent stake.
Miller is currently entangled in a legal dispute with Larry Silverstein’s Silverstein Properties for allegedly reneging on plans to buy the Beekman Tower in Midtown East for $137.5 million. Miller was expected to close the deal by February, according to Silverstein’s lawsuit, but allegedly failed to get the cash together in time.
Waterbridge also owns 158-160 North 4th Street, 151-173 North 3rd Street and, in partnership with RedSky Capital, 237-241 Bedford Avenue.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly described Dagan LaCorte’s involvement in the deal. LaCorte represented the seller.