Sam Charney

Charney is remaking Gowanus.

The developer is building more than 2,000 apartments in the neighborhood along with his frequent collaborators at Tavros Capital. That number doesn’t just make him one of the biggest developers in Brooklyn, but in all of New York.

Charney got his start in the business as a student at New York University’s real estate program when he impressed Two Trees with a school project he was working on about their Empire Stores. He talked his way into a job and spent eight years with the Walentases until 2013, when he started his own company, which owns, manages or has developed some 3 million square feet. 

His latest project is the 1,000-unit 175 Third Street, which he and his partners bought last year from Aby Rosen for $160 million. It’s their fourth project in Gowanus, capitalizing on the city’s rezoning of the neighborhood in 2021.

He’s not just active in Gowanus. Charney is developing a 55-story, 636-condo at 24-19 Jackson Avenue in Long Island City, the neighborhood where his company is based and where he has a long track record of developing buildings. He’s also building a 200-unit condo tower at 95 Rockwell Place in Fort Greene and converting a historic dormitory in Morningside Heights into student housing.

As the company continues to expand — in 2024 it expanded its office space to make room for new hires — it will have to navigate the growing pains.