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Here’s a look at Brooklyn’s top condo developers
Large number of smaller projects is fueling the resi condo boom
Brooklyn’s biggest condo developers have a large number of small projects to thank for the moniker.
While the top five players each have planned more than 200 condo units since 2012, that’s just a fraction of the 6,156 total condo units planned in Brooklyn over the past three years, according to data from plans filed with the New York State Attorney General’s office and analyzed by The Real Deal.
Chinese development firm Greenland USA and Forest City Ratner’s Pacific Park mega-development landed the firms at the top of the list. The joint venture has filed plans for two condominiums with 522 units combined, including 550 Vanderbilt, which will have 278 apartments.
Coming in at No. 2 was Jared Kushner’s Kushner Companies and Asher Abehsera’s LIVRK, with 338 planned apartments at its conversion of the former Austin, Nichols and Co. warehouse at 184 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg. XIN Development, a subsidiary of Chinese developer Xinyuan, clocked in at No. 3 and is currently constructing the 216-unit Oosten at 429 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg, where a buyer is poised to spend $6.5 million on a penthouse, setting a neighborhood record.
Rank Lead Sponsor Projects Total Units Largest Project No. of Units 1 Greenland USA/Forest City Ratner 2 522 Pacific Park's 550 Vanderbilt 278 2 Kushner Companies/LIVWRK 1 338 Austin Nichols at 184 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg 338 3 Xinyuan Real Estate Co 1 216 The Oosten 216 4 Rabsky Group 16 207 755 Kent 99 5 Brookland Capital 26 204 691 Marcy Avenue 41 6 Urban View Development Group 23 182 516 Classon Street 18 7 Adam America Real Estate 4 174 51 Jay Street 126 8 Stahl Real Estate 2 157 388 Bridge 144 9 Davbel Property 7 146 Seven condos on South 9th and South 10th streets 20 each 10 Flank Developers 1 128 265 State Street 128 11 Toll Brothers 1 122 Pierhouse at 90 Furman Street 122 12 EM Equity Holdings 14 116 76 Lefferts Place 31 13 Hello Living 3 104 834 Sterling Place 54 14 E&M Associates 3 101 35 Clarkson Avenue 38 15 Dunn Development 1 99 Condos at Navy Green at 8 Vanderbilt Avenue 99 16 Rybak Development and Construction 3 98 104 West End Avenue 48 17 Funaro & Company 1 70 160 Imlay Street 70 18 Muss Development 1 62 50 Oceana Drive West 62 19 Golden Lioness 1 60 338 Berry Street 60 20 Alloy Development 2 52 1 John Street 42
Unlike Manhattan, where the top developers were responsible for the lion’s share of the borough’s developments, the most active Brooklyn developers beyond the top three have a large number of smaller projects in the works. Some projects were developed by two or more firms and for the purpose of this analysis, TRD identified one firm as the primary developer based on AG filings. The number of units in certain buildings was also subject to change after the initial AG filings.
One of the borough’s most prolific developers, the notoriously press-shy Rabsky Group, has 16 projects and 207 condo units in the works, the largest of which is at 755 Kent Avenue and will hold 99 units.
The Oosten in Williamsburg
But those projects represent a small slice of Rabsky’s 1,850-unit pipeline, which includes far more rental apartments. The Williamsburg-based firm, run by partners Simon Dushinsky and Isaac Rabinowitz, is also working on a proposed 777-unit rental complex on the former Pfizer site on the edge of Bedford-Stuyvesant, as well as a 398-unit Bushwick rental building that’s part of the Rheingold Brewery redevelopment.
Boaz Gilad’s Brookland Capital, in the No. 5 spot, has 204 units in the works spread across 26 projects, including a 41-unit condominium at 691 Marcy Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
At No. 6 on the list, Nadav Hamo’s Urban View Development has 182 units under development across 23 projects, including 516 Classon Street in Clinton Hill, also with 41 units.
Rounding out the top 10 are: Adam America Real Estate with 174 units, Stahl Real Estate with 157 units (including the 144-unit 388 Bridge in Downtown Brooklyn), Davbel Property with 146 units and Flank Development with 128 units.
Along with Davbel, a firm run by David and Bernard Jacobowitz, several lesser-known developers appeared on TRD’s list.
At No. 12, EM Equity Holdings, filed plans for 116 units across 14 projects, including 31 units at 76 Lefferts Place, and No. 16-ranked Rybak Development, led by Sergey Rybak, who filed plans for 98 units across three projects, including a 48-unit condo at 104 West End Avenue in Brighton Beach.
550 Vanderbilt
Hello Living, No. 13, filed plans for 104 units in three buildings followed by E&M Associates, which filed plans for 101 units across three buildings.
Also listed were several developers with just one or two projects, including Dunn Development (99 units), Mona Gora’s Golden Lioness (60 units), Muss Development (62 units), Funaro & Company (70 units) and Alloy Development (52 units).
A TRD analysis of permits filed with the Department of Buildings for multi-family buildings containing at least 15 units revealed that Brooklyn developers had a bigger appetite for larger multi-family projects last year. Between January and September of 2014, developers filed plans for 132 projects spanning 13,545 units in that category. During the same period in 2015, 110 projects called for 7,070 future units.