Hershy Silberstein pays $16.5M to Slate for dev site in Gowanus

Hershy Silberstein through the entity Sackett Apartments LLC paid $16.5 million to Slate Property Group through the entity 224 Third Ave Owner LLC for the industrial building (G2) at 224 3rd Avenue in Gowanus, Brooklyn. The expected use is ground up development.
On the lot, there is one active new building construction project, B00727869, for a 67-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 29, 2025 and was recorded on February 28, 2025. The property has 8,500 square feet of built space and plans called for a project with 47,148 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $1,941 and the price per the planned project’s square foot is $350 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 seller bought the property on November 8, 2022, for $12 million. The signatory for Slate Property Group was Martin Nussbaum . The signatory for Hershy Silberstein was Hershy Silberstein. The contract date was December 18, 2023.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Hershy Silberstein purchased one property in one transaction for a total of $6.4 million and sold one property in one transaction for a total of $5.5 million over the past 24 months.
The seller Slate Property Group purchased seven properties in six transactions for a total of $366 million and sold three properties in three transactions for a total of $37.4 million over the same time period.

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 $728,000. The most recent loan totaled $9.1 million and was provided by Valley National Bank on November 8, 2022.

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 $1,970 in OATH 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 2.5 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $661.4 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 6th highest in Brooklyn. For development, Gowanus has 2.5 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 4th highest in Brooklyn. It had 2.8 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 31 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

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 two identified owners are Vorea Group and Slate Property Group.
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 seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Slate Property Group owned at least 65 commercial properties with 3,352 residential units in New York City with 3,350,292 square feet and a city-determined market value of $815.7 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $1.7 billion in debt, with top three lenders as Mack Real Estate Group, JPMorgan Chase, and Apollo Global Management respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 72 percent of the 3,350,292 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with hotel properties next occupying 13 percent of the space. The bulk, or 55 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Queens next at 27 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Hershy Silberstein owned at least 22 commercial properties with 253 residential units in New York City with 73,228 square feet and a city-determined market value of $12.8 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $145.4 million in debt, with top three lenders as Starwood Capital Group, NorthEast Community Bank, and IceCap Group respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 69 percent of the 73,228 square feet of built space are industrial properties, with mixed-use properties next occupying 10 percent of the space. The bulk, or 88 percent of the built space, is in Bronx, with Brooklyn next at 12 percent of the space.

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