GFI Arranges $40M Acquisition Loan on Sheepshead Bay Rentals

GFI Realty Services closed on a $40-million acquisition loan for 1501 Voorhies Ave., formerly known as Avalon Brooklyn Bay and rebranded by the buyer as Aqualina New York, located in Brooklyn’s Sheepshead Bay neighborhood. The financing was secured through OceanFirst Bank and arranged by Daniel Lerer, managing director, investment sales & finance at GFI.

The collateral for the loan includes the entire rental portion of the building, spanning floors 2 through 19, as well as a 105-space parking garage. Floors 20 through 28 contain 56 individual condominium units, which were previously sold.

Delivered in 2018 as a joint venture between AvalonBay Communities and Muss Development, Avalon Brooklyn Bay was designed as a mixed-use condominium structure featuring two distinct residential components. Muss developed and sold out the condos, while AvalonBay retained ownership of the rental apartments and parking facility.

“This transaction provided the borrower with the opportunity to secure attractive leverage that optimizes returns while preserving long-term flexibility,” said Lerer. “OceanFirst Bank demonstrated strong conviction in both the property’s fundamentals and the borrower’s proven track record.”

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GFI's Lerer

About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 16-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 7-10 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).

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