Crow Hill Gets $18M Loan to Redevelop Old Nassau Brewery Site in Brooklyn
By Danielle Balbi December 31, 2015 7:00 am
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Crow Hill Development landed an $18 million loan from Valley National Bank for the redevelopment of the Nassau Brewing Company’s old brewery in Brooklyn, Commercial Observer can first report.
Meridian Capital Group brokered the financing, which is being used to redevelop a three-story 50,000-square-foot brewery at 949 Bergen Street at the corner of Franklin Avenue, in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn.
The floating-rate, full-term interest-only loan carries a two-year term with two six-month extension options and an additional permanent five-year, fixed-rate financing option, a source confirmed on the condition of anonymity.
“It’s so exciting to see this project finally become a reality,” Fabian Friedland, the president of Crow Hill Development, said in prepared remarks provided to CO. “Our partners on this deal have shown tremendous vision to help us in revitalizing what we hope will be an asset to the neighborhood. We believe this project will be a great success.”
The New York-based developer acquired the site for $7.5 million in 2008 from CPC Resources, a for-profit subsidiary of Community Preservation Corporation, according to city records.
“We are pleased to have worked again with Crow Hill to close another successful financing transaction,” said Tal Bar-Or, a managing director at Meridian. “This was a complicated transaction that took the full cooperation of Crow Hill and Valley National and we look forward to the great improvement this will bring to a wonderful part of Brooklyn.”
Crow Hill will serve as the general contractor on the $30 million project, and Brooklyn-based Formactiv will serve as the architect. The old brewery will be transformed into a mixed-use complex with a residential component on the upper floors, retail on the ground floor and possibly a restaurant underground. The renovations were approved by the State Historic Preservation Office and the National Park Service, which allows the developer to receive historic tax credits, but the total amount was not immediately clear. An institutional tax credit investor will provide additional equity for the project, but the identity of the other investor and the total amount of equity was not immediately clear.
“We are really looking forward to completing this project with Mr. Friedland and the Crow Hill Team,” said Bryan Dinkelacker, a vice president and senior loan officer at Valley National Bank. “Valley National Bank prides itself on working closely with its borrowers and strives to develop strong, long-lasting relationships with all of its clients; this is one project we are very excited to be a part of.”
The project is slated for completion in early 2017.
