Clipper Equity’s David Bistricer has landed a $79 million construction loan for a 143-unit residential building project in Williamsburg.
Bistricer told The Real Deal that construction for the seven-story rental apartment building at 118 Hope Street has recently begun. The de Blasio administration approved the plans in early March 2020, just days before the city went into lockdown.
Construction is scheduled to be completed in 24 months, Bistricer said.
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The lender was Bank Leumi, and the Bank of Princeton also participated in the deal, sources said.
Leah Paskus’ Landstone Capital Group arranged the financing. Landstone declined to comment.
A Bistricer limited liability company dubbed Hope-Keap Owner acquired the vacant lot at the southwest corner of Hope and Keap streets in January 2020. The deed listed the transaction price as zero, but property records filed for transfer taxes around the same time show the transaction was valued at $24.7 million.
The year of delay in construction might not have hurt Bistricer as much as it normally would, as the number of new leases in New York City’s rental market plummeted after the onset of the pandemic.
In recent months, however, the tide has shifted, and the number of leases is now rising. But Brooklyn’s median rent in April was still 16 percent lower than it was a year ago, according to a Douglas Elliman report.