Zoning plan advances for 10-story commercial in Williamsburg

A rezoning plan Hadi Hajjar of Mihata Corp. originally filed in 2020 to build a 10-story, 192,000-zoning-square-foot retail, commercial and manufacturing building at 20 Berry Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, is advancing in the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, with an updated Environmental Assessment Statement filed in June.

The plan is for a 135-foot-tall, approximately 284,160-gross-square foot development containing approximately 151,958 zoning square feet of commercial, and 32,000 zoning square feet of manufacturing, as well as parking. The commercial uses would comprise 21,868 square feet of retail space on the ground and second floors, and 23,799 square feet on the lower level. In addition, 118,458 square feet of office space on the ground floor and floors three through nine; manufacturing on the second and third floors, and 11,632 square feet of restaurant space on the tenth floor.

The site includes the entire block front of Berry Street between 12th Street and 13th Street, facing McCarren Park.

The application notes existing large buildings in the area, including the 22-story, 250-feet-tall William Vale Hotel, and the 10-story, 134-feet-tall 25 Kent Avenue.

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 4th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $1.9 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Williamsburg has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 2nd highest in Brooklyn. It had 4.6 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 9 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of one of the nine commercial properties representing 185,141 square feet of the 225,141 square feet. The identified owner is EOS Hospitality. There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 20 Berry Street, PincusCo identified seven commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those seven items, two were sales above $5 million totaling $184.7 million. The most recent of the two was EOS Hospitality which bought the 185,141-square-foot, 184-unit hotel (HB) on 55 Wythe Avenue for $176.4 million from All Year Management and Tel Aviv Stock Exchange bondholders on July 1, 2024. Of those seven items, five were loans above $5 million totaling $204.2 million. The most recent of the five was EOS Hospitality in which borrowed $115.1 million from Apollo Global Management secured by the 185,141-square-foot, 184-unit hotel (HB) on 55 Wythe Avenue on July 8, 2024.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.