Thorofare Capital has provided a $15 million floating-rate first mortgage to Highpoint Property Group (Highpoint) to acquire, renovate and stabilize a mixed-use multifamily property in Brooklyn, NY.
Located at 88-92 Atlantic Avenue in the Brooklyn Heights/Cobble Hill neighborhood, the property consists of three contiguous buildings totaling 30 residential apartment units. There are two, four-story buildings and one, five-story structure, over 1,009 square-feet of ground floor retail space. The seller was a Georgia-based investor who had owned the property for more than 40 years.
Highpoint’s value-add business plan involves renovating and repositioning the property into a Class-A mixed-use building. The floor plans will be reconfigured to maximize efficiency and a new unit mix will include: 10 one-bedroom duplexes, three rent stabilized two-bedroom units, 16 three-bedroom units, and one three-bedroom unit with mezzanine space.
Given the scope of planned renovations, Highpoint’s experience in vertical construction, assemblage and new development made Thorofare comfortable with providing the financing according to Felix Gutnikov, Head of Origination.
“With a `time-of-essence’ closing requirement, Highpoint saw Thorofare as a reliable lender with an extensive track record of financing other Brooklyn commercial real estate properties in such neighborhoods as Bushwick, Williamsburg, Gowanus, Brownsville, Bedford-Stuyvesant,” Gutnikov said. “Thorofare was able to offer a highly structured future funding facility toward the planned renovations, utilizing a local construction consultant to help streamline the draw approval process.”
Highpoint invests in residential and mixed-use assets throughout the Tri-State area, making the Brooklyn Heights assets a strong fit for its expanding portfolio, according to Founder and Principal Drew Popkin.
“The Brooklyn Heights/ Cobble Hill neighborhood is a good example of our investment strategy to acquire value-add opportunities in markets that exhibit strong multifamily fundamentals and substantial economic growth,” Popkin said. “Thorofare’s strong understanding of the market and subsequent financial structure will benefit to contributing to our producing the type of return that we are looking for.”
