Gindi Capital Making Presence Felt in DoBro With Dual Deals

A Downtown Brooklyn commercial complex is changing hands, taking a series of complicated maneuvers to return the portfolio of properties to its previous owner.

Gindi Capital acquired two properties at 25 Elm Place and 486-496 Fulton Street from PIMCO Prime Real Estate (formerly Allianz Real Estate) for a combined $70 million, the Commercial Observer reported. The two properties are part of the same complex, one Gindi previously owned.

The full transaction was first reported by PincusCo. Gindi sold the deed and leasehold of 25 Elm Place to Allianz in 2013 for $18.8 million, the same year Allianz took a majority stake in Gindi’s 486 Fulton Street for $135 million. CBRE’s Doug Middleton brokered the deal.

The priciest individual deal of what ultimately proved to be three transactions was the deed sale of 25 Elm Place, which Gindi bought for $40 million. It didn’t only need to acquire the deed to the 163,000-square-foot office building; Gindi also bought the leasehold on the property for $15 million.

Tenants at that address include health care union 1199SEIU, fast-food restaurant Fulton Hot Dog King and nonprofit Goodwill, which has a 31,000-square-foot training center.

Separately (but relatedly), Gindi also bought the commercial condo units at 486-496 Fulton Street for $15 million. It was a “bargain and sale deed,” transferring real estate ownership without covenants. Retail tenants at the parcel include Burlington Coat Factory, a Chase bank branch and a Lidl grocery store.

Apollo Global Management subsidiary Athene Annuity and Life Company provided $50.4 million in acquisition financing to Gindi. CBRE’s Doug Middleton brokered the transaction.

Pimco declined to comment to the publication on the deal, while Gindi did not respond to request for comment.

Gindi’s most recent noteworthy transaction wasn’t official business; Eli Gindi sold his home at 2126 East Fourth Street in Brooklyn’s Gravesend neighborhood for $32 million in November; that was a record for a single-family home in the borough.

On the other side of the country, Pimco and Witkoff defaulted on a loan tied to The Park Santa Monica, a 249-unit luxury apartment complex in downtown Santa Monica, towards the end of last year.

— Holden Walter-Warner