Fresh off an $860 million deal to sell his Brooklyn apartment portfolio, developer Joseph Brunner is already spending his earnings.
Brunner, who runs Bruman Realty with partner Abe Mandel, has acquired an old Goodwill warehouse in Queens (pictured top) where he plans to build a new 18-story condo building.
Transwestern Real Estate Services (TRS) just announced it represented Goodwill Industries of Greater NY and Northern NJ Inc. in the $14.4 million sale of 26-25 Fourth St. in Astoria, Queens. Stephen Powers, Lindsay Ornstein and Jake Cinti provided investment sales and consulting services to Goodwill NYNJ.
Currently the site of a single-story, 31,000 s/f warehouse that served as a distribution center for Goodwill NYNJ, the location is adjacent to Goodwill Terrace, a 200-unit affordable housing building that Goodwill NYNJ sold to Jonathan Rose Companies in late 2019 for $35 million.
“The sale of this development site concludes a major disposition of two assets for Goodwill, the proceeds of which will allow Goodwill to further invest in strengthening its programs throughout New York and New Jersey,” said Powers, who leads Transwestern’s national Nonprofit Advisory Services group. “We are thrilled to have been able to help the social services agency bolster its financial strength at this critical time.”
Yimby reported in September that plans had already been filed by Brunner’s Fourth Development Holdings LLC for a 204 ft. tall development of 288,907 s/f, with 239,383 s/f designated for residential space and 37,656 s/f for community facility space on the site at 26-25 Fourth St. The building will have 165 residences and the concrete-based structure with a cellar, two sub-cellars, a 30 ft. long rear yard, and 101 enclosed parking spaces. J Frankl Architects is listed as the architect of record.
Over the summer, Brunner and Mandel’s Bruman Realty entered into contract to sell a 14-building portfolio of rental buildings in Brooklyn to Manhattan-based Dalan Management in partnership with investment firm, KKR & Co Inc.
The portfolio comprises of 14 residential rental buildings including 260 Gold Street in Downtown Brooklyn, a new 13 story building with 286 apartments. Bloomberg reported the contract price is $860 million, although neither firm has commented and the deal is yet to close.
The portfolio consists of buildings constructed in recent years under the city’s 421a tax abatement program. It spans 1.5 million square feet and includes roughly 1,275 residential rental units.
Transwestern’s Nonprofit Advisory Services group has completed three transactions for Goodwill NYNJ in the past year. In addition to the sales of 26-25 Fourth St. and Goodwill Terrace, the firm represented Goodwill NYNJ in its 30,800 s/f lease renewal of the full third floor of 25 Elm Place in Brooklyn in June 2020. Goodwill NYNJ provides training, placement, on-the-job coaching, and retention services from its Brooklyn location.
