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Domain lands $176M for 360-unit Gowanus project
Developer secured construction loan from Bank OZK in recently rezoned Brooklyn neighborhood
Domain Companies has secured construction financing to bring more than 300 apartments to Gowanus amid a wave of new development in the rezoned Brooklyn neighborhood.
The developer landed $176 million in financing from Bank OZK for its planned two-building, 360-unit apartment and retail development at 404 and 420 Carroll Street, according to city records.
Domain closed on the financing just weeks after the lucrative 421a tax abatement expired on June 15. Developers were required to initiate some construction work prior to that deadline in order to be eligible for the incentive, triggering a race among builders to get projects filed and foundations laid. A Domain spokesperson said the Carroll Street project qualified for 421a.
JLL New York Capital Markets arranged the $176M financing for Domain with Bank OZK. Other partners in the project include Vorea Group, Silverstein Properties and affiliates of Cantor Fitzgerald.
About 25 percent of the units will be set aside as affordable, according to a filing with the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
Domain bought the adjacent sites along the Gowanus Canal for $47.5 million in 2018 from PMG. Domain and Vorea are among a number of developers seeking to benefit from the rezoning of Gowanus, where they plan a further 268 apartments at nearby 540 DeGraw Street.
Last year, the city rezoned an 82-block, mostly industrial area of the neighborhood, which officials estimated would encourage the construction of more than 8,500 new apartments, including 3,000 for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers.
Bank OZK, based in Little Rock, Arkansas, is among the more active construction lenders in the city in recent years. In February, it provided $800 million in financing for an Upper West Side condo project by Gary Barnett’s Extell Development.
Domain Companies and Vorea Group have frequently partnered in the past. Along with Bridge Investment Group and L+M Development Partners, the two companies are also developing a 500-unit mixed-use project in a Long Island City Opportunity Zone.