Yoel Goldman, Hakim partner with PMG on one of Gowanus’ biggest vacant sites

Yoel Goldman and the Hakim Organization have joined Property Markets Group in its purchase of one of the largest vacant sites in Gowanus, The Real Deal has learned.

The three firms recently closed on the roughly $50 million purchase of a development site at 455-459 Smith Street. The site currently offers over 330,000 buildable square feet at a FAR of 2.0, but could allow for a much larger project if a rezoning of the area goes through.

The seller, garment mogul Henry Abadi, razed the one-story warehouse on the 166,000-square-foot lot in the early 2010s. National Grid has been performing a cleanup on the contaminated land, which borders the Gowanus Canal on the eastern side.

Kevin Maloney’s firm was in contract for over a year, an extended period that sources said was agreed upon in advance. PMG and Hakim would jointly develop it, and Goldman, a Brooklyn landlord who runs All Year Management, holds a majority stake, sources said. The plans for the site are not clear, but sources said the developers are considering a mixed-use property with office, hotel and retail components.

But a finished product could be years off. A source close to All Year said plans are contingent on the city’s rezoning of the area. The city launched a neighborhood study in October, and a rezoning could pave the way for many big-ticket projects.

This appears to be Goldman’s first joint venture with PMG or Hakim. The Hasidic investor‘s firm has been steadily tackling more ambitious projects in Brooklyn, with a portfolio that now includes over 140 rental buildings, a stake in the William Vale Hotel in Williamsburg, and a 1 million-square-foot complex under construction on the old Rheingold Brewery site in Bushwick. All Year raised $80 million on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange last month in its third issuance this year.

Kamran Hakim’s Hakim Organization, meanwhile, is a frequent PMG collaborator. The two developed the recently completed 44-story Long Island City tower 1 QPS and jointly own a Queens Plaza taxi garage site, which they briefly looked to sell.

David Junik

The partners recently abandoned an 800-unit rental-and-condominium tower project on the Clock Tower site in Long Island City when they sold the land for around $170 million to the Durst Organization, which is planning its own rental megadevelopment there. The developers admitted the undertaking was too big and they had to sell in order to avoid foreclosure.

Pinnacle Realty’s David Junik brokered the Smith Street deal. Pinnacle, PMG and All Year declined to comment, and Hakim could not be reached.

Developers like Kushner Companies, SL Green Realty and LIVWRK are also waiting on the community engagement process of the Gowanus rezoning effort before proceeding with their project, sources said. The firms bought a large site at 175-225 3rd Street in 2014 and have not yet begun building, but aren’t looking to sell, sources said.