Invictus Real Estate Provides $69M Bridge Loan for Brooklyn Multifamily Development

Jeffrey Gershon’s Hope Street Capital has secured a $69 million bridge loan to complete the construction of the Mason Grey, a 158-unit multifamily building with 9,000 square-feet of community space in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Commercial Observer has learned. 

Invictus Real Estate Partners provided the 18-month construction loan, which includes two six-month extension options and retires $60 million of existing construction debt for work that began two years ago. Walker & Dunlop’s Mike Diaz, Aaron Appel, Keith Adam and Jonathan Schwartz arranged the financing. 

Christopher Pardo, co-founder and managing partner of Invictus, told CO that Gershon is expected to have a temporary certificate of occupancy (TCO) next week and that his firm’s financing will ultimately be taken out with agency financing or CMBS debt after lease up is completed later this year. 

“His construction facility was maturing and he basically needs a bridge loan to take him through lease up, even though he’s in process of completing his TCO,” said Pardo. “We deem the execution risk, given the quality of this developer and borrowing group, exceedingly low. Jeff Gershon has a storied tack record of delivering on successful projects.” 

Located at 959 Sterling Place, near Brower Park and a short walk from Prospect Park, the Mason Grey is expected to add 110 market-rate apartments, primarily one-bedroom units, and 48 affordable rental units financed through New York City’s 421-a Affordable Housing Program that expired last year.

The seven story building is expected to feature a fitness center, several co-working spaces, a residents’ lounge, a game room, an outdoor patio and a private, residents-only courtyard. The new development is being built on the grounds and within the existing  brick framework of the Hebron Seventh Day Adventist School, a building completed in 1889 and landmarked by New York City in 2011 as part of the Crown Heights North Historic District.

“I’ve had the ability to walk the project a few times now, and the project has these distinctive architectural features,” said Pardo. “One of the neat things I saw being installed was not a copper, but a zinc roof, in a paneled system that reminds me of the rooftops of buildings in Paris. Zinc roofs are more ubiquitous in Europe than in the U.S., and it’s a beautiful architecture feature.” 

Brian Pascus can be reached at bpascus@commercialobserver.com