Zihang Chen signs $11.3M construction loan with S3 Capital for dev site in Williamsburg

Zihang Chen through the entity 39 Meserole St LLC as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender S3 Capital through the entity S3 Sb Real Estate Credit A Trust valued at $11.3 million for the industrial building (E1) at 37-41 Meserole Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
The deal closed on September 18, 2025 and was recorded on October 8, 2025. The property has 4,778 square feet of built space and 6,832 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 11,610 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $2,365 and the price per buildable square foot is $973 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 Zihang Chen was Zihang Chen.

The property

The industrial building in Williamsburg has 4,778 square feet of built space and 6,832 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 11,610 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 50 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 4,778 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 $638,000.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the property has not received any significant violations in the last year.

Development

On the lot, there are three active new building construction projects and major alteration projects with initial costs more than $5 million, totaling 13,260 square feet. The largest, 340806104, is a new building project for a six-unit, 4,448 square-foot R-2 building submitted by Jiali Zeng with plans filed February 24, 2021 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest, 340806113, is a new building project for a six-unit, 4,448 square-foot R-2 building submitted by Jiali Zeng with plans filed February 24, 2021 and it has not been permitted yet.

The neighborhood

In Williamsburg, The bulk, or 39 percent of the 50.4 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 25 percent of the space. In sales, Williamsburg has the 5th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $1.9 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Williamsburg is the most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 41.9 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 83 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 15 of the 27 commercial properties representing 109,325 square feet of the 164,860 square feet. The largest owner is Yi Jian Lin, followed by Manuel Fernandez and then Softstone Development.
On the tax block, there were five new building construction projects totaling 23,187 square feet. The largest is a eight-unit, 5,479 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Weichang Zheng and filed by Weichang Zheng with plans filed April 2, 2025 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a six-unit, 4,448 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Jiali Zeng with plans filed February 24, 2021 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 52 percent of the 164,860 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 32 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Zihang Chen owned at least three commercial properties with six residential units in New York City with 9,203 square feet and a city-determined market value of $4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 46 percent of the 9,203 square feet of built space are mixed-use properties, with C3 properties next occupying 34 percent of the space. They are all located in Brooklyn.

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