Gowanus Corner Draws $38.5M for 80 Units, Structure Still Open
The headline number in the wire is $27M. The lot actually took two loans on August 26, and the second one is the tell.
A vacant corner at Third Avenue and Degraw Street in Gowanus took $38,475,000 of mortgage debt on August 26, recorded two days later as two separate instruments rather than one. The site is filed for a 14 story mixed use building with 80 dwelling units designated as mandatory inclusionary housing, and the structural application for it is still open at the Department of Buildings.
Why it matters
This is one of the Gowanus rezoning sites finally reaching a capital event, and the shape of that event is the part a builder should read. The money did not come from a bank. The lender of record is 213 3rd Ave 1 LLC, a private entity at 520 Madison Avenue, which is how a mid size Brooklyn ground up deal gets funded in this market when bank construction lending is scarce. The cost of that capital shows up later in what the sponsor can pay for the work.
The second signal is the sequence. A sponsor closing $38,475,000 with a structural application still in objections is funding ahead of full approval, which compresses the window between loan closing and the point at which steel has to be bought. For a subcontractor pricing this job, that compression is the schedule risk.
The numbers
The two mortgages recorded August 28 are $27,022,750 and $11,452,250, with a matching assignment of leases and rents on the larger one. The borrower is 590 Degraw LLC at 225 Third Avenue in Brooklyn, which took title from Angelo Properties, LLC in a deed recorded at $0 in the same batch, a related party transfer made to hold the collateral. No arm’s length price appears on the lot: the 2025 and 2021 deeds both recorded at $0 as well.
The land is 9,714 sq ft, classified as vacant, assessed at $838,350, and zoned M1-4/R7X with a residential floor area ratio of 5.0. The new building application describes a 14 story mixed use building with 80 proposed dwelling units and zero existing, with Adam Kushner of Kushner Studios as the architect of record. Foundation work was approved in July 2024 at $415,750, with support of excavation at $500,000 by Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers.
What’s next
The structural application clearing objections is the gate. Watch for the permit issuance and for a superstructure contract to follow. See our coverage of 456 apartments filed over a Tenth Avenue parking lot and the New York market.
Quick answers
- What is the latest on 213 Third Avenue?
- Two mortgages recorded the same day put $38,475,000 on a vacant Gowanus lot for 80 inclusionary units. The structural filing is still in objections.
- Who is developing 213 Third Avenue?
- Kushner Studios and Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers, according to NYC ACRIS, document 2026082600399001.
- What are the key numbers for 213 Third Avenue?
- Total recorded across two same-day mortgages: $38.48M; Dwelling units proposed, all inclusionary housing: 80; Sq ft of vacant land at Degraw Street: 9,714; Stories in the filed building: 14.
On the record
Two mortgages were recorded against the lot in the same August 26 batch, $27,022,750 and $11,452,250, for total financing of $38,475,000. Only the larger one surfaces in a single-document scan.
Public record · a836-acris.nyc.gov
Primary record
- Public recordThe lender of record is 213 3rd Ave 1 LLC at 520 Madison Avenue, a private lending entity rather than a bank, and the borrower took title from Angelo Properties, LLC in a $0 related-party deed recorded in the same batch.View the record on a836-acris.nyc.gov
- Public recordThe structural application on the new building job is still carrying Department of Buildings objections, while the foundation and support-of-excavation applications were approved in 2024 and a construction fence was refiled on September 10, 2026.View the record on a810-dobnow.nyc.gov
Also reported by
- NYC Open Data, MapPLUTO tax lot 3004270007Lot record, 213 Third Avenue: vacant land, 9,714 sq ft, zoned M1-4/R7X