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New York

RedSky Capital pays $32M to beef up its Williamsburg portfolio

143-157 Roebling was the focus of a lawsuit involving another would-be buyer

143-157 Roebling Street
143-157 Roebling Street

Brooklyn-based real estate development firm RedSky Capital has expanded its Williamsburg portfolio, paying $32.25 million for 143-157 Roebling Street. The sale, which hit property records Thursday, followed a court decision in June allowing the building’s former owner, Metroeb Realty 1 LLC of Monsey, N.Y., to sell the property.

Previously, a court injunction prevented any sale of the site, which has an alternate address of 1-19 Hope Street, after Metroeb was sued by a Brooklyn-based firm, Metropolitan Lofts.

In the suit, Metropolitan claimed it had a prior agreement with Metroeb and its principal Aaron Berger to Buy The Roebling Street property for $30 million. But Metroeb disputed that the contract was binding, arguing that the deal fell apart when the parties didn’t agree on terms. Metropolitan was led by Isaac Jacobowitz, who sold his stake in the business two years ago.

In June, a judge ruled in favor of Metroeb, paving the way for RedSky to close on the $32.25 million acquisition. Gabriel Saffioti, a director at Eastern Consolidated, represented Metroeb. He and Ben Tapper, a senior director, also represented RedSky. Property records filed Thursday also show RedSky obtained a $35.35 million mortgage on the building.

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Reached by telephone Friday, Berger told The Real Deal that he was pleased to sell the building, which is bound by the city’s “loft laws” that protect tenants of illegal loft residences. He said he tried to buy out the tenants to develop the site but was not successful. “That’s why I sold,” he said.

For RedSky, which is led by principals Benjamin Bernstein and Benjamin Stokes, the Roebling Street property is the latest addition to its Williamsburg holdings.

In 2012, RedSky and Waterbridge Capital paid $66 million for a group of properties along Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, which they planned to develop into 50,000 square feet of retail space and 39 residential units. In July, RedSky filed conversion plans at 239 Bedford, which has an alternate address of 156 North 4th Street, seeking a certificate of occupancy for 23 “interim multiple dwelling,” or IMD units, according to the Department of Buildings.

RedSky also owns three properties near the Barclays Center: 76 Saint Marks Avenue, the Triangle Building at 182 Flatbush Avenue and 267 Flatbush Avenue.

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LoftsRedSky Capital