Watermark Capital, Yoel Werzberger get $19M construction loan for 48-unit project in Gowanus

Watermark Capital Group and Yoel Werzberger through the entity 4th Avenue Qozb LLC as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender Popular Bank through the entity Popular Bank valued at $19 million for the development building (V1) at 584 4th Avenue in Gowanus, Brooklyn.
The deal closed on August 11, 2022 and was recorded on August 22, 2022. The property has zero square feet of built space and 39,130 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 39,130 square feet according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $N/A and the price per buildable square foot is $485 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 June 3, 2022, for $5.8 million. The signatory for Watermark Capital Group and Yoel Werzberger was Marc Chemtob. The signatory for Popular Bank was Claudette Sofair.

The property

The 584 4th Avenue parcel has frontage of 72 feet and is 104 feet deep with a total lot size of 6,500 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R8A which allows for up to 6.02 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $650,000.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property since September of 2020. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $20,000 in ECB penalties and $21,800 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

On these lots, there is one active new building construction project for a 48-unit, 37,121-square-foot R-2 building. The project was developed by Yoel Werzberger with plans filed November 12, 2020 and permitted December 30, 2021.

The neighborhood

In Gowanus, the bulk, or 47 percent of the 9.3 million square feet of commercial built space are industrial buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 19 percent of the space. In sales, Gowanus has 1.3 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $428.4 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 14th highest in Brooklyn. For development, Gowanus is the 6th most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 5.6 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 60 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of five of the 21 commercial properties representing 29,628 square feet of the 178,691 square feet. The largest owner is Chaverim, followed by Alex Leyva and then Murray Gelb.
There are four active new building construction projects totaling 49,008 square feet. The largest is a 48-unit, 37,121-square-foot R-2 building developed by Yoel Werzberger with plans filed November 12, 2020 and permitted December 30, 2021. The second largest is a four-unit, 5,122-square-foot R-2 building developed by Jack Cheng with plans filed March 28, 2016 and permitted April 25, 2019.

The majority, or 66 percent of the 178,691 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 25 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Watermark Capital Group owned at least 116 commercial properties in New York City with 1,189,870 square feet and a city-determined market value of $196.9 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $39.6 million in debt, borrowed from Signature Bank. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 70 percent of the 1,189,870 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with elevator properties next occupying 26 percent of the space. The bulk, or 93 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Queens next at 7 percent of the space.

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