Brooklyn Developer Plans 60 Apartments in Gowanus

Brooklyn multifamily developer Hershy Silberstein is adding a mixed-use development to Gowanus.

The CEO of Bluesky Developers filed plans last week to build more than 60 apartments and ground-floor retail space at 579 Sackett Street, Crain’s New York first reported.

The project, which will replace a rundown auto repair shop, will span 11 stories and 47,000 square feet, with apartments on floors two through 11. The proposed development will also include 32-bike storage in the cellar, a fitness room and outdoor recreation areas on the first floor and rooftop.

Silberstein purchased the site, also listed as 224 Third Avenue, for $16.5 million earlier this year from Martin Nussbaum, co-founder of Slate Property Group.

The project adds to the growing number of developments in Gowanus following the 2021 rezoning of the neighborhood. As part of it, the city aimed to add more than 8,000 new housing units. Two years later, developers were already on track to exceed the city’s goal.

At the time, the largest development slated for the neighborhood was a nearly 900-apartment project at 459 Smith Street — a project initiated by Yoel Goodman’s now-bankrupt All Year Management. Lantower Residential, a subsidiary of the Canadian H&R REIT, is now developing the site after its parent company bought it for $76.5 million last March.

Other major projects in the neighborhood include a two-tower development at 310 and 340 Nevins Street by Nicholas Silver’s Tavros and Sam Charney’s Charney Companies. Last summer, the developers snagged two construction loans totaling $300 million.

Last month, Trinity Place Holdings sold its rent-regulated building at 237 11th Avenue in Gowanus for a loss. Shel Capital and Bluestone Investments bought the 105-unit property for $68.5 million, down from Trinity’s $81 million purchase price in 2018.

— Sheridan Wall