Invictus Real Estate Partners Provides $62M for Brooklyn Mixed-Use Complex
By Brian Pascus July 10, 2023 4:01 pm
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It’s not a “Lidl” deal in this tight credit market.
Seventh Street Development Group has secured $62.25 million in construction financing for a sprawling, 105,000-square-foot mixed-use project in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, that will be anchored by a 33,000-square-foot Lidl discount supermarket.
The two-year, floating-rate loan was provided by Invictus Real Estate Partners, together with Maxim Capital Group and Beach Point Capital Management. Maxim Capital Group served as a senior leverage partner on the loan with Invictus, while Beach Point Capital Management partnered on the balance capital stack, according to a source close to the deal.
Abraham Bergman, president and co-founder of Eastern Union, a national commercial real estate firm, and company vice president Yossi Orzel arranged the mortgage on the deal, which is expected to cover 100 percent of the hard costs of construction.
“We were highly fortunate to be able to work with two outstanding partners on this transaction,” said Rivkah Sontag-Tepler, co-founder and CEO of Seventh Street Development Group, in a statement. “Eastern Union showed a keen ability to source funding and to coordinate the overall process. In addition, Invictus Real Estate Partners demonstrated both flexibility as well as outstanding dealmaking skills.”
Located only two blocks from Brooklyn’s famous Prospect Park, the massive mixed-use project at 1730 Bedford Avenue will include 12,000 square feet of additional retail space outside of the Lidl supermarket; 39,000 square feet of rental space for 57 rental units; 12,000 square feet of Class A office space; and 9,000 square feet of community space.
But the crown jewel of the property is expected to be the ground-level supermarket at the base of the building.
Headquartered domestically in Arlington, Va., Lidl is a well-regarded national grocer that features popular items at affordable prices. Lidl’s Crown Heights store is expected to include a bakery, fresh produce, a floral store, a fresh produce section, a seafood section, and fresh meats.
Founded in 1932 in Germany under Josef Schwartz as a fruit wholesaler, Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG today operates more than 12,000 stores in both the U.S. and Europe, specializing in discount markets. The firm operates more than 170 stores on the East Coast, of which 27 serve New York state, including stores in Staten Island, Harlem and Astoria, Queens.
“It is a privilege to be bringing this project to Brooklyn’s Crown Heights community,” said Jack Gold, co-founder and chief operating officer of Seventh Street Development Group, in a statement. “We’re confident that Lidl will be a welcome addition to the neighborhood, and we’re now engaged in preliminary discussions with other national retailers about leasing opportunities at this property.”
Or Raitses, senior director of real estate for Lidl’s northern region, said his firm is excited to bring “low prices and a convenient shopping experience” to the Crown Heights community in Brooklyn, which already has Key Food, Foodtown, and CTown Supermarkets serving the area.
“We look forward to continuing our expansion in New York City and opening even more stores in the future,” Raitses said in a statement, “[and] bringing our unique value proposition to additional areas of the city where New Yorkers for far too long have had to put up with high grocery prices.”
Schuckman Realty served as the broker on the transaction.
Brian Pascus can be reached at bpascus@commercialobserver.com
