Silvera Properties files plans for two-tower, 60-unit building in Chelsea
536 West 28th Street axonometric rendering (Credit - Gil Even-Tsur architect via DOB)
Silvera Properties through the entity 534 West 28th Street, LLC submitted a new building construction project for a 60-unit, 76,949 square-foot residential (R-2) building at 536 West 28th Street in Chelsea, Manhattan. The plan was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings on December 11, 2024 under job number M01141757. It calls for the construction of a 12-story building that runs from 27th Street to 28th Street mid-block between 10th and 11th avenues. The project is described in the filing as: erect new mixed use building. David Silvera filed the plans. The architect is Architecture Workshop.
The plans call for two towers, North and South, of approximately the same size and dimensions.
This property was sold by Extell Development for $24.5 million to Silvera Properties on June 6, 2023. One-time lumber yard magnate and owner of strip clubs, Robert Gans, lost the property in a drawn-out foreclosure and bankruptcy process involving 10 other properties that a joint venture of Extell Development, Bluestone Group and Princeton Real Estate Partners acquired.
The plans call for 2,810 square feet of retail on the ground floor as well as space in the lower level, and four apartments each in each tower on floors two to five, three each in each tower on floors six to eight, two on the ninth floor in each tower, and one apartment on floors 10, 11 and 12 in each tower.
The property is in Subarea B of the Special West Chelsea District limiting floor area ratio to 5.0. The zoning diagrams are basing the buildable on a 5.0 FAR plus 2.5 bonus of transfer of transfer development rights from the High Line under Special West Chelsea District regulations, according to an analysis by appraiser Daniel Sciannameo of Albert Valuation Group New York.
| wdt_ID | floor | comment | description | persons_permitted | occupancy_label | zoning_use | dwelling_units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cellar | MECHANICAL, ELECTRICAL AND UTILITY EQUIPMENT ROOMS | Mechanical and/or electrical equipment room | N/A | Factory and Industrial | ||
| 2 | Cellar | STORAGE ROOM (NORTH WING) | Storage of non combustible Materials | N/A | Storage | ||
| 3 | Cellar | STORAGE ROOM (SOUTH WING) | Storage of non combustible Materials | N/A | Storage | ||
| 4 | Cellar | LOUNGE, FITNESS ROOM, LAUNDRY ROOM, KIDS ROOM | Apartment | 39 | Residential | ||
| 5 | Cellar | BICYCLE STORAGE ROOM (605.99') | Storage of non combustible Materials | 2 | Storage | ||
| 6 | Cellar | COMPACTOR ROOM | Storage of non combustible Materials | 2 | Storage | ||
| 7 | Ground Floor | OUTDOOR RECREATION FOR TENANTS USE | Recreation | 60 | Assembly | ||
| 8 | 1 | LOBBY (NORTH WING) | Apartment | N/A | Residential | ||
| 9 | 1 | RETAIL SPACES (NORTH WING) | Retail Sale | 30 | Mercantile | ||
| 10 | 1 | RETAIL SPACE (SOUTH WING) | Retail Sale | 30 | Mercantile |
The property
The existing retail building, the long-time home to the strip club Scores, in Chelsea has 31,106 square feet of built space and 46,895 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 78,020 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 55 feet and is 197 feet deep with a total lot size of 10,375 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is C6-3 which allows for up to 6 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 7.52 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $11.1 million.
Prior sales and revenue
The 31,106-square-foot property generated revenue of $1.8 million or $59 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.
Development
David Silvera of 534 West 28th Street, LLC submitted a new building construction project for a 60-unit, 76,949 square-foot residential (R-2) building at 536 West 28 Street. The plan was filed on December 11, 2024. It calls for the construction of a 135-foot tall, 12-story building and was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings under job number M01141757. The architect is Architecture Workshop. The project is described in the filing as: erect new mixed use building.
For the tax lot building, it received its initial certificate of occupancy on March 6, 2019.
Violations and lawsuits
According to city public data, the property has received $2,350 in OATH penalties in the last year.
The property was involved in one lawsuit and zero bankruptcies over the past two years. The suit was a $21 million money judgment concerning a commission filed on August 21, 2023, by Austin Schuster Group against Extell Development.
The neighborhood
In Chelsea, The bulk, or 35 percent of the 52.5 million square feet of commercial built space are office buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 28 percent of the space. In sales, Chelsea has the 7th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $1.2 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Chelsea has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 20th highest in Manhattan. It had 1.9 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 nine of the 14 commercial properties representing 300,505 square feet of the 410,898 square feet. The largest owner is Atlantic Development Group, followed by Jame Y.A. Pastreich and then James Y.A. Pastreich. On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 225,906 square feet. The largest is a 40-unit, 148,957 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Related Companies and filed by Gregory Gushee with plans filed July 30, 2013 and permitted February 12, 2015. The second largest is a 60-unit, 76,949 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by David Silvera with plans filed December 11, 2024 and it has not been permitted yet.
The owner
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Silvera Properties owned at least one commercial property in New York City with 31,106 square feet and a city-determined market value of $11.7 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio consists of at least a single retail property. It is located in Manhattan.
The surrounding
Within a 400-foot radius of 535 West 27 Street, PincusCo identified four commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those four items, two were sales above $5 million totaling $28.2 million. The most recent of the two was Raghavan, Pamela which bought one condo unit in the 4,552-square-foot, 38-unit mixed-use building (RM) on 527 West 27th Street for $15 million from Wc 28 Realty LLC on June 7, 2024. Of those four items, two were loans above $5 million totaling $47.7 million. The most recent of the two was Kamran Hakim in which borrowed $22 million from Webster Bank secured by the 34,345-square-foot, 31-unit rental (D8) on 537 West 27th Street and one other property on February 16, 2024.
Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.