Preferred Builders pays $2.9M to Freemasons affiliate for likely dev site in Bedford Stuyvesant

Preferred Builders through the entity 8 Howard Ny LLC paid $2.9 million to Grand Consistory of New York through the entity Grand Consistory Of New York for the specialty building (M9) at 8 Howard Avenue in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. The expected use is ground up development, according to a PincusCo analysis, which is not confirmed. About the half of the parcel is occupied by a building and the other half is vacant.
The deal closed on August 12, 2025 and was recorded on September 9, 2025. The property has 17,840 square feet of built space and 16,781 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 34,600 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $162 and the price per buildable square foot is $83 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 signatory for Grand Consistory of New York was Rene Myatt. The signatory for Preferred Builders was Chaim Fuchs . The contract date was May 6, 2025. Grand Consistory of New York Under the Jurisdiction of the Thirty-Third Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scotch Rite of Free Masonry of the State of Louisiana, Inc. bought the building and parcel at a city auction, for $7,000 in 1983.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Preferred Builders had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Grand Consistory of New York had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period.

The property

The specialty building in Bedford Stuyvesant has 17,840 square feet of built space and 16,781 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 34,600 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 80 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 8,650 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is C4-4L which allows for up to nan times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 4 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $550,000.

Violations and lawsuits

The property was involved in zero lawsuits and one bankruptcy over the past two years. The bankruptcy was filed on May 22, 2025, by Grand Consistory of New York and Allen Lloyd citing assets of $1.3 million. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $2,400 in OATH penalties 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 Bedford Stuyvesant, The bulk, or 35 percent of the 54.8 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 29 percent of the space. In sales, Bedford Stuyvesant has the 9th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $1.2 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Bedford Stuyvesant has 1.7 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 4th highest in Brooklyn. It had 2.4 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 4 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of seven of the 13 commercial properties representing 68,250 square feet of the 92,106 square feet. The largest owner is Pincus Schwimmer, followed by Paulius Skema and then Israle Godstein.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 48,800 square feet. The largest is a 49-unit, 43,828 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Atari Realty and filed by Joseph Atarien with plans filed September 18, 2020 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a six-unit, 4,972 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Oscar Sasson with plans filed March 27, 2018 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 74 percent of the 92,106 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 14 percent of the space.

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