The Chetrit Group has secured an $80 million refinancing loan on a warehouse at 57-18 Flushing Avenue in Maspeth, Queens, according to sources familiar with the deal. Maxim Capital Group and SL Green provided the financing in a three-year deal. Iron Hound arranged the transaction.
The property contains five buildings across more than 588,000 square feet, according to city tax records. The warehouse was last mortgaged in 2021 with UBS Bank, according to city records.
The Chetrits also got a $50 million loan on the property from Maxim in 2020. An entity associated with the Chetrit Group bought the property in 1994, according to city records, although the purchase price is unclear.
The refinancing is good news for the Chetrit family, which has been working to settle scores with lenders over defaults and legal judgments. Meyer Chetrit has been ordered to pay a $132 million judgment to Maverick Real Estate Partners.
Late last year, a city marshal garnished Meyer’s interests in several LLCs to pay off that judgment, selling them at auction to Maverick. One of the LLCs, called 5718 Maspeth Associates, had indirect ties to the warehouse property, and Maverick will receive any payouts from the property that would have originally gone to Meyer Chetrit.
The Chetrit Group principals have also been battling lenders over 26 Broadway, a 29-story, Class A office tower that was transferred to special servicing last month, according to the outlet. At 500 and 512 Seventh Avenue, the Chetrit Group had partnered with Edward Minskoff and Joseph Moinian.
But in July, a lender accused the borrower of transferring about $1 million of tenant security deposits to outside accounts, with about $300,000 transferred to accounts associated with other Chetrit projects or affiliates. That case is ongoing.
On top of lender troubles, Meyer and Joseph Chetrit are also facing charges of tenant harassment from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
The company’s properties, including the warehouse at 57-18 Flushing Avenue, are subject to various interests and claims from other parties, including Maverick Real Estate Partners.
Real estate owners, such as those with pied-à-terre properties, may face similar challenges in the future.