David Goldberger, Hershy Silberstein sign $22M construction loan for 35-unit project in Jamaica

David Goldberger and Hershy Silberstein through the entity Hillside Residents LLC as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender Popular Bank valued at $22 million for the 35-unit project at 172-02 Hillside Avenue in Jamaica, Queens.
On the lot, there is a new building project, Q00568756, for a 35-unit, 50,654 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Ben Kaftari and filed by Ben Kaftari with plans filed August 12, 2021 and permitted November 6, 2024.
The loan closed on July 30, 2025 and was recorded on September 5, 2025. The prior lender was Skybrook Capital which held debt that had an original loan amount of $2.5 million.The property has zero square feet of built space and 36,100 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 36,100 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per buildable square foot is $609 per the PincusCo analysis. (The price per square foot analysis is the transaction price divided by square feet as reported in public records and assumes no air rights have been sold.)
The owner bought the property on February 5, 2004, for $1.7 million. The signatory for David Goldberger and Hershy Silberstein was David Goldberger through the name Duvid Goldberger and Hershy M. Silberstein. The signatory for Popular Bank was Travis Schelhorn .

The property

The parcel has frontage of 95 feet and is 76 feet deep with a total lot size of 7,220 square feet. The zoning is R7X which allows for up to 5 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $657,000.

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 one DOB violation, $10,000 in ECB penalties, and $11,510 in OATH penalties in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Jamaica, The bulk, or 34 percent of the 29.2 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 14 percent of the space. In sales, Jamaica has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $249.8 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 8th highest in Queens. For development, Jamaica has 1.3 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 4th highest in Queens. It had 1.7 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 6 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 85,139 square feet. The largest is a 35-unit, 50,654 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Ben Kaftari and filed by Ben Kaftari with plans filed August 12, 2021 and permitted May 20, 2022. The second largest is a 28-unit, 34,485 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Ben Kaftari and filed by Ben Kaftari with plans filed March 9, 2020 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 58 percent of the 22,260 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with retail buildings next occupying 42 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Hershy Silberstein owned at least 25 commercial properties with 319 residential units in New York City with 84,794 square feet and a city-determined market value of $15 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $194.5 million in debt, with top three lenders as S3 Capital, Starwood Capital Group, and Valley National Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 69 percent of the 84,794 square feet of built space are industrial properties, with mixed-use properties next occupying 8 percent of the space. The bulk, or 79 percent of the built space, is in Bronx, with Brooklyn next at 21 percent of the space.

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