Blue Sky Builders signs $43M construction loan for 82-unit project in Gowanus

Blue Sky Builders through the entity Sackett Apartments LLC as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender Popular Bank valued at $43 million for the 82-unit project at 224 3rd Avenue in Gowanus, Brooklyn.

On the lot, there is one active new building construction project, B00727869, for an 82-unit, 47,148 square-foot residential (R-2) building. The project was submitted by AGM Deco and filed by Abe Lipton with plans filed May 4, 2022 and permitted February 27, 2025.
The deal closed on January 28, 2026 and was recorded on February 9, 2026. The prior lender was S3 Capital which held debt that had an original loan amount of $15 million.
The owner bought the property on January 29, 2025, for $16.5 million. The signatory for Blue Sky Builders was Hershy M. Silberstein . The signatory for Popular Bank was Travis Schelhorn .

The property

The industrial building in Gowanus has 8,500 square feet of built space and 33,876 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 42,345 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 69 feet and is 63 feet deep with a total lot size of 8,469 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is M1-4/R7X which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing and up to 5 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $994,000.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $22,400 in ECB penalties in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Gowanus, The bulk, or 46 percent of the 9.2 million square feet of commercial built space are industrial buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 19 percent of the space. In sales, Gowanus has 2.2 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $718.8 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 9th highest in Brooklyn. For development, Gowanus has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 1.3 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 14 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There was one pre-foreclosure suit filed among other industrial buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of four of the six commercial properties representing 60,300 square feet of the 71,964 square feet. The largest owner is Vorea Group, followed by Watermark Capital Group and then Hershy Silberstein.
On the tax block, there were five new building construction projects totaling 1,067,828 square feet. The largest is a 291-unit, 258,599 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Marino Mazzei|Bonafide Realty and filed by Marino Mazzei with plans filed February 4, 2022 and permitted May 31, 2022. The second largest is a 291-unit, 258,599 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Marino Mazzei and filed by Marino Mazzei with plans filed February 4, 2022 and permitted May 31, 2022.

The majority, or 84 percent of the 71,964 square feet of built space are industrial buildings, with retail buildings next occupying 16 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Blue Sky Builders owned at least two commercial properties with 100 residential units in New York City with 0.0 square feet and a city-determined market value of $306,000. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $34 million in debt, borrowed from Wells Fargo. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 0 percent of the 0.0 square feet of built space are industrial properties, with specialty properties next occupying 0 percent of the space.

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