Chess Builders signs $52M construction loan with S3 Capital for dev site in Williamsburg

Chess Builders through the entity Meserole Lorimer Realty LLC as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender S3 Capital through the entity S3 Re Meserole St Funding LLC valued at $52 million for three industrial properties including the industrial building (E9) at 56 Meserole Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, industrial building (E9) at 346 Lorimer Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Chess Builders paid $19.6 million for the properties on January 28, 2026.
The deal closed on January 29, 2026 and was recorded on February 17, 2026. The three properties have 29,960 square feet of built space and 18,693 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 48,600 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data.
The signatory for Chess Builders was Cheskel Schwimmer .

The property

The industrial building in Williamsburg has 29,960 square feet of built space and 18,693 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 48,600 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 150 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 15,000 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 $2.8 million.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the properties for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have not received any significant violations in the last year.

Development

There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $1 million on this tax lot.

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 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Williamsburg is the 2nd 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.

The block

On the tax block of 56 Meserole Street, PincusCo has identified the owners of 10 of the 16 commercial properties representing 162,734 square feet of the 194,040 square feet. The largest owner is Sterling Equities, followed by Yidel Hirsch and then Chess Builders.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 47 percent of the 194,040 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 23 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Chess Builders owned at least nine commercial properties with 336 residential units in New York City with 200,967 square feet and a city-determined market value of $32 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $493.4 million in debt, with top three lenders as MF1 Capital, Valley National Bank, and S3 Capital respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 53 percent of the 200,967 square feet of built space are industrial properties, with office properties next occupying 29 percent of the space. The bulk, or 54 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 46 percent of the space.

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