Chetrits Purchase Defaulted Bank Note for Gravesend Property

By Ellen Cans

Isaac and Eli Chetrit are the new lenders on a Brooklyn retail property. They have purchased an $18 million defaulted bank note from Signature Bank for 1100 Kings Highways in the Gravesend neighborhood.

As reported by Crain’s NY, the investors plan to use the property as a development site. The property is now a single-story commercial building, and the site offers roughly 20,000 square feet of space, as per city records. It is not known if the Chetrits are planning to foreclose on the building; however that would be the standard acquisition method for developers who purchase discounted loans on properties. The deal was brokered by Aaron Jungreis, CEO of Rosewood Realty Group. Isaac and Eli Chetrit were not reachable for comment by Crain’s, and Jungreis, Signature Bank and AB Capstone declined to comment on the deal.

In May 2018, AB Capstone had purchased the property in partnership with a Jamaica-based limited liability company, along with 2067 Coney Island Avenue from New York REIT for $30.5 million, as per property records. The two buildings in the deal, in which AB Capstone bought a 70 percent stake and the LLC took a 30 percent share, obtained a $21.5 million mortgage from Signature Bank.

Over the last year, Isaac and Eli Chetrit have also been mentioned elsewhere in real estate news. Together with Ray Yadidi of the Sioni Group, the Chetrirs went into contract in February 2020 to sell their building at 15 W. 47th St. in the Diamond District to the ELO Organization for $115 million. Over the summer Developer Jack Elo had tried to back out, reconsidering the purchase amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Eventually, the parties had made the deal, with the ELO Organization buying the 18-story building for a discounted price of $110 million in December. The Chetrits and Yadidi, who had originally purchased the building in 2012 for $62.5 million, had listed their Diamond District properties at 15 W. 47th St. and 22 W. 48th St. for sale back in 2017, hoping to get close to $200 million for them.

Isaac and Eli Chetrit’s firm has also been busy with a development site in Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, which they purchased over the summer for $15.5 million. They are working on plans to develop a 200,000-square-foot mixed-use apartment building at the site located at 2870 Ocean Avenue. Mr. Isaac Chetrit is cousin with the prominent New York developer Joseph Chetrit, who owns extensive investments across the city, but who is not connected with these transactions.