Joel Braver
Express Builders
Owner
144 Spencer Street Suite 612 Brooklyn, NY 11205
Express Builders NYC portfolio
$376.6 million -V1 67%, elevator 15%, condo 10%; Brooklyn 96%, Bronx 3%*
576th largest portfolio by dollar value
189,327 sqft – condo 46%, elevator 34%, retail 11%; Brooklyn 88%, Bronx 11%
1621th largest by SF
10 properties – Brooklyn 90%, Bronx 9%
1005th largest
115 residential units – Brooklyn 100%
1645th largest by residential units
Person Activity past 24 months:
Buyer signatory: 2 for $18.1 million
Seller signatory: 1 for $60 million
Borrower signatory: 4 for $232.2 million
Developer (new building or major alteration): 33 for 451,709 square feet
Top Ten Associated Companies:
Signature Bank (2), Richard A. Kaplin (1), Popular Bank (1), JPMorgan Chase (1), Food City Markets, Inc (1), David Templer (1), Kahal Toldos Tzvi D’Spinka (1), Shulem Schik (1), Castellan Capital (1), Yeshiva Beis Leivy (1)
Top Ten Associated People:
Richard A. Kaplin (1), Jennifer Smith (1), Barbara G. Berger (1), David Templer (1), Meilech Spitzer (1), Shulem Schik (1), Joel Hammer (1), Herman Silberman (1), Shulem Eisenberg (1), Maryanne Kearney (1)
Recent activity as signatory:
• Express Builders borrowed $6.1 million from JPMorgan Chase for 1444 Bedford Avenue on March 30, 2026.
• Joel Braver filed plans for new building for 64,861 sqft in Fordham Heights, Bronx, on October 17, 2025.
• Joel Braver filed plans for new building for 55,286 sqft in Fordham Heights, Bronx, on July 14, 2025.
• Joel Braver filed plans for major alteration for 26,493 sqft in Brownsville, Brooklyn, on June 26, 2025.
• Express Builders sold 1581 Lafayette Avenue for $60 million to David Templer on June 20, 2025.
• Express Builders and Twin Group Associates borrowed $11 million from Popular Bank for 65 East Burnside Avenue on February 28, 2025.
• Food City Markets, Inc sold 65 East Burnside Avenue for $15 million to Express Builders and Twin Group Associates on February 28, 2025.
• Joel Braver filed plans for new building for 62,045 sqft in Red Hook, Brooklyn, on January 28, 2025.
• Express Builders borrowed $192.1 million from NYC Housing Development Corporation for 498 Columbia Street, Red Hook, Brooklyn on December 19, 2024.
• Joel Braver filed plans for new building for 156,632 sqft in Red Hook, Brooklyn, on December 02, 2024.
Latest Stories:
• Galaxy Developers pays $3.5M for dev site in Williamsburg (February 13, 2026)
• Joel Braver inks $15M deal for Fordham Heights dev site (March 07, 2025)
• Express Builders signs $23M refi with Castellan for dev site in Soundview (September 05, 2024)
• Satmar congregation pays $9.9M for development site in Williamsburg (August 18, 2023)
• Shulem Schik pays $4M to Joel Braver for dev site in Borough Park (November 08, 2022)
• Joel Braver pays $23.4M for three rental buildings in Bedford-Stuyvesant (July 09, 2021)
• Joel Braver pays $19M to Jacob Schwimmer for development property in Soundview (March 16, 2020)