Watermark, Rubin Equities sign $210M construction loan with S3 Capital for mixed-use in Sunset Park
Watermark Capital Group and Rubin Equities through the entity Twrlr Tower LLC as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender S3 Capital through the entity S3 RE Sunset Park Funding LLC valued at $210 million for the development project at 6128 8th Avenue in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
The deal closed on March 14, 2025 and was recorded on March 21, 2025. The prior lenders were Genesis LLC and Daryl Hagler which held debt that had an original loan amount of $65.5 million.
The signatory for Watermark Capital Group and Rubin Equities was Wolfe Landau . The signatory for S3 Capital was Joshua Crane .
The property
The parcel has frontage of 221 feet and is 700 feet deep with a total lot size of 160,700 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is C4-2 which allows for up to 3.4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 2.43 times FAR for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $4.3 million. The most recent loan totaled $23 million and was provided by Genesis Holdings Management on November 1, 2024.
Violations and lawsuits
The property was involved in six lawsuits and zero bankruptcies over the past two years. The highest value suit was a $50 million money judgment concerning a contract filed on August 31, 2023, by Wing Fung Chau against Jun Xu. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $20,350 in ECB penalties and $17,500 in OATH penalties in the last year.
Development
On the lot, there is one active new building construction project, B00754062, for a 113-unit, 62,600 square-foot R-2 building. The project was submitted by Joel Werczberger and filed by Joel Werczberger with plans filed June 13, 2022 and permitted March 20, 2024.
The block
On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of seven of the 22 commercial properties representing 74,437 square feet of the 393,176 square feet. The largest owner is Diversified Healthcare Trust, followed by Watermark and Rubin Equities and then Vivian Li.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 64,924 square feet. The largest is a 113-unit, 62,600 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Joel Werczberger and filed by Joel Werczberger with plans filed June 13, 2022 and permitted March 20, 2024. The second largest is a 2,324 square-foot business (B) building submitted by Ya Quan Guan with plans filed May 8, 2019 and permitted January 30, 2024.
The majority, or 62 percent of the 393,176 square feet of built space are office buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 19 percent of the space.
The borrower
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Watermark Capital Group owned at least 138 commercial properties with 1,591 residential units in New York City with 1,656,550 square feet and a city-determined market value of $317.1 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $221.5 million in debt, with top three lenders as Slate Property Group, BridgeCity Capital, and Signature Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 50 percent of the 1,656,550 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with elevator properties next occupying 18 percent of the space. The bulk, or 89 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Queens next at 6 percent of the space.
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Rubin Equities owned at least four commercial properties with 69 residential units in New York City with 205,520 square feet and a city-determined market value of $49.7 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $64 million in debt, borrowed from Popular Bank and Citibank. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 90 percent of the 205,520 square feet of built space are office properties, with industrial properties next occupying 10 percent of the space. The bulk, or 90 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Bronx next at 10 percent of the space.
Direct link to Acris document. link