David Bistricer’s Clipper Equity bagged another loan for part of its massive multifamily project at the former site of a landmarked Sears department store.
Bank Hapoalim and BHI, its U.S. division, provided $95 million in construction financing to Clipper and local developer Anshel Friedman for a 226-unit development at 2359 Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood, the firm announced.
The project is part of a larger affordable housing redevelopment of the property that formerly held Sears, a complex expected to include 876 units. Bistricer bought the property two years ago for $40.3 million from Transform Operating Stores, which purchased Sears’ remaining assets after the department store went bankrupt.
The 148,000 square-foot development will have 86 one-bedroom, 68 two-bedroom and 72 studio units. Thirty percent of the apartments will be affordable. It will also include 23,000 square feet of commercial and 10,000 square feet of retail space.
The four-building project will stretch across three city blocks, at the corner of Bedford Avenue and Beverly Road.
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Other construction financing for the project includes a $140 million loan from Slate Property Group for 2366 Bedford Avenue and another $105 million from Valley National Bank for 2201 Beverly Road, according to PincusCo.
The project was one of the last to qualify for the 421a tax abatement, which mandates a certain percentage of affordable housing units and has since been replaced with 485x.
The famed Sears Roebuck & Co. department store building closed its final New York City location at the Flatbush outpost in 2021 after 89 years. The closing signaled an end of an era for the department store that was in business on the same corner since 1932, when future first lady Eleanor Roosevelt addressed the crowd at its grand opening. The art deco tower was designated as a city landmark in 2012.