Yaakov Lefkowitz pays $6M for 70-unit dev site in Bushwick, borrows $14.5M

UPDATED 10:25 a.m., August 17, 2025: Yaakov Lefkowitz of Lefko Capital Group through the entity 21 Charles LLC paid $6 million to Congregation Bais Chana for the two-parcel Bushwick, Brooklyn, 70-unit development site known as 21 Charles Street with addresses at 661 Bushwick Avenue and 20 Charles Place. The expected use is ground up development.
On these lots, there is one active new building construction project, 321590541, for a 70-unit, 75,717-square-foot residential (R-2) building. The project was submitted by Naftali Burger with plans filed May 5, 2020 and permitted June 3, 2022. Yaakov Lefkowitz is now the official developer, New York City Department of Buildings records show.

The most recent Zoning Document available online shows 46 units, but the developer has submitted plans for 70 units with 75,717 square feet, according to documents reviewed by PincusCo.

The deal closed on July 21, 2025 and was recorded on July 30, 2025.

The signatory for Congregation Bais Chana was Solomon Itzkowitz. The signatory for Yaakov Lefkowitz was Yaakov Lefkowitz. The contract date was October 29, 2024.
To finance the purchase and construction, on the same closing day, Yaakov Lefkowitz through the entity 21 Charles LLC as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender IceCap Group through the entity Ice Lender Holdings LLC valued at $14.5 million.
ZD1A-ES945452535 2021_21 Charles Place

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Yaakov Lefkowitz had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Congregation Bais Chana had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period.

The property

The parcel has frontage of 103 feet and is 101 feet deep with a total lot size of 10,000 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R6 which allows for up to 2.43 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $697,000.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the properties for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have received $1,200 in OATH penalties in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Bushwick, The bulk, or 44 percent of the 33.6 million square feet of commercial built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 18 percent of the space. In sales, Bushwick has 1.9 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $527.8 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 12th highest in Brooklyn. For development, Bushwick has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 927,713 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 3 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There was one pre-foreclosure suit filed among other industrial buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On the tax block of 20 Charles Place, PincusCo has identified the owners of 14 of the 32 commercial properties representing 217,345 square feet of the 312,005 square feet. The largest owner is Shlomo Karpen, followed by Riseboro Community Partnership and then Isaac Broyn.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 35,861 square feet. The largest is a 46-unit, 29,095 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Naftali Burger with plans filed May 5, 2020 and permitted June 3, 2022. The second largest is a 10-unit, 6,766 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Asher Alon with plans filed April 26, 2016 and permitted May 31, 2018.

The majority, or 52 percent of the 312,005 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 31 percent of the space.

Correction: A prior version of this post used an outdated unit count and planned square feet.

Direct link to Acris document. link