Bushburg and the Moinian Group milked MF1 Capital for $140 million to replace the $130 million in debt they used to expand and convert a Brooklyn dairy factory into a 320-unit, mixed-use project.
The new, floating-rate financing comes two years after a $105 million loan from Valley Bank and Cross River Bank and $25 million gap mortgage funded the 14-story transformation of the landmarked buildings, which pre-date World War I.
The factory produced milk for the Empire State Dairy Company and later Borden before sitting vacant for decades. Bushburg acquired it in 2018 for nearly $17 million.
Bushburg CEO Joseph Hoffman previously cited his and Moinian’s “mutual desire to develop in East New York and restore one of the only landmark buildings in the area,” but Bushburg’s website now refers to the property’s location, 2840 Atlantic Avenue, as Cypress Hills.
The website indicates the project, called The Highland, is complete, and offers studios to three-bedroom apartments for rent. Its designer, Dattner Architects, repurposed the old factory into commercial space and used new construction for the residential units.
One studio is listed at $2,140 and a two-bedroom is available for $3,100. A 14,200-square-foot commercial space on the ground floor and a 5,000-square-foot storage unit are also listed for undisclosed rents.
Plans for the project’s 52,000 square feet of community space, which span all three levels of the landmarked building, could not be determined Monday. Bushburg and Moinian did not respond to requests for comment.
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The property is three blocks from the Van Siclen Avenue subway station and about a mile east of Broadway Junction. The loan is also secured by parcels at 191 Schenck Avenue and 260 Barbey Street. An executive with Berkshire Bridge Loan Investors signed the paperwork for MF1, which is a joint venture of Berkshire and Limekiln Real Estate Investment Management.
Bushburg, named for Williamsburg and Bushwick, made its reputation building higher-end residential and commercial projects in areas where lower-priced product is the norm. Cypress Hills and East New York fit that pattern, though it remains to be seen if they gentrify as Williamsburg and Bushwick have.