Charney, Tavros Snags $785M Debt For Historic Gowanus Project

A joint venture led by Charney Companies and Tavros secured a new package of debt and equity for their historic Gowanus development.

Charney, Tavros and Incoco Capital landed $785 million in financing for 175 Third Street, part of the larger Gowanus Wharf campus in Brooklyn, the Commercial Observer reported. It’s the fifth building in the broader vision for the neighborhood.

Apollo and Affinius Capital issued $600 million in debt for the project, representing the fourth development in Gowanus Wharf involving the latter party. The former has financed development in the neighborhood previously.

Additionally, Scott Rechler’s RXR injected $185 million in equity financing into the project. The owners of the project reportedly began negotiating with Rechler to join the development shortly after acquiring the site.

A JLL Capital Markets team including Christopher Peck, Peter Rotchford and Nicco Lupo arranged the debt deals.

“[Lenders] are seeing just how successful these projects have been and are anteing up and reinvesting again into the neighborhood,” Tavros partner Colin Rankowitz told the Observer following the financing.

Last spring, Silver Point Capital provided $145 million in acquisition and pre-development debt for the project, alongside The Brodsky Organization and Tikehau Capital. The developers used the financing to close on their acquisition of the site from Aby Rosen’s RFR, which bought the site in 2018 and took it through the environmental remediation and design, as well as the securing of a 421-a tax abatement.

The property is slated to rise 27 stories and span 1.1 million square feet. It will include 1,100 units — with 25 percent designated as affordable — and amenities including an 85,000 square-foot Life Time fitness center, a public waterfront esplanade, subsidized artist studios, an indoor soccer field, karaoke bars, an interior courtyard and a roof deck. Construction is expected to wrap in 2028.

Charney and Tavros in March secured a $125 million, seven-year, fixed-rate Freddie Mac loan to refinance their 224-unit Union Channel building at 240 Third Avenue in Gowanus.

Gowanus Wharf, the name Charney and Tavros have given to the four-building campus they’re developing in the neighborhood, will cover 2 million square feet and include 2,200 apartments.

— Holden Walter-Warner