Chang Lin files plans for 29-unit rental building in Williamsburg

Chang Lin submitted a major alteration application for the conversion of a single-story, 6,550-square-foot commercial (COM) building at 20 Meserole Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to an eight-story, 29-unit, 24,167-square-foot residential building. The plan was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings on April 24, 2026 under job number B01373215. It calls for an increase in the size of the building from a one-story building with no dwelling units to an eight-story building with 29 dwelling units. The architect is Angelo Ng & Anthony Ng Architects Studio. The parcel is owned by Yi Jian Lin.

The new building plans include eight affordable units, according to a unit mix disclosed in the filings.

20 Meserole Street

The property

The industrial building in Williamsburg has 6,550 square feet of built space and 9,366 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 15,916 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 65 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 6,550 square feet. The zoning is R6 which allows for up to 2.43 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $812,000.

Prior sales, articles and revenue

This property was sold for $3.4 million on September 28, 2018.

The 6,550-square-foot property generated revenue of $94,523 or $14 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has received $300 in OATH penalties in the last year.

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months.

The neighborhood

In Williamsburg, The bulk, or 39 percent of the 50.4 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 25 percent of the space. In sales, Williamsburg has the 6th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $2.2 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Williamsburg is the most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 42 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 83 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There were seven pre-foreclosure suit filed among other development buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 14 of the 22 commercial properties representing 128,778 square feet of the 190,289 square feet. The largest owner is Barry Himmel, followed by Bruce Ratner Family and then Devorah Lefkowitz. There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 20 Meserole Street, PincusCo identified five commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those five items, two were sales above $5 million totaling $21.4 million. The most recent of the two was Zihang Chen which bought the 4,778-square-foot, one-unit industrial (E1) on 37 Meserrole Street for $6.4 million from Sun Choi Tsang on October 8, 2025. Of those five items, three were loans above $5 million totaling $25.7 million. The most recent of the three was Zihang Chen in which borrowed $11.3 million from S3 Capital secured by the 4,778-square-foot, one-unit industrial (E1) on 37 Meserrole Street on October 8, 2025.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.