Watermark Capital JV Lands $210M for Brooklyn Tower
Completion is slated within two years.
Watermark Capital has landed a $210 million construction loan for a 28-story high-rise comprising 497 units in Brooklyn, N.Y. The company obtained the funds alongside joint venture partner Rubin Equities, according to Commercial Observer. S3 Capital originated the debt, while Arrow Real Estate Advisors brokered the deal on behalf of Watermark.
Prestige Construction will serve as the general contractor for the project slated to rise at 6208 Eighth Ave. Completion is expected within two years, the same source shows.
The tower will feature a gym, coworking spaces, a rooftop terrace, bike storage, a sauna and a screening room, as well as more than 100,000 square feet of retail space.
To rise directly above a subway station, the community will take shape in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park housing submarket, which according to prepared statements by Robert Schwartz, co-founder & partner at S3 Capital, is significantly undersupplied.
READ ALSO: NAHB Special Report: Stabilized Construction Rates on the Way
Arrow Real Estate Advisors Founder and Managing Partner Morris Betesh together with Senior Vice President Alex Bailkin and Senior Associate Matt O’Hanlon, as well as Vice President Israel Mermelstein, brokered the deal on behalf of Watermark.
Multiple developers targeted the site for various projects throughout a period spanning more than a decade. MSK Properties initially planned an 11-story tower and a Home Depot before disposing of the land in 2014.
A group of investors based in Long Island, N.Y., took ownership of the site. They envisioned three towers including office spaces and a hotel. However, in 2021 they sold the land to Watermark and Maguire Capital Group.
S3’s multifamily financing flows
S3 Capital Managing Directors Shawn Safdie and Steven Jemal originated the debt. As of last week, the financing firm provided $6 billion across more than 700 loans since its inception. S3 anticipates reaching $1 billion in originations during 2025’s first quarter.
Earlier this year, S3 Capital issued a $79 million note to Chess Builders for the development of a 138-unit property in Manhattan. The project will benefit from a 35-year tax exemption under the 421-a program.
Brooklyn multifamily completions ramp up
Brooklyn’s pipeline encompassed more than 25,000 units underway as of March, according to Yardi Matrix data. This year, the data provider expects 9,288 apartments to come online in the borough—a figure 35.5 percent higher than 2024’s multifamily deliveries which clocked in at nearly 6,000.
New apartment construction slowed down in Brooklyn, with developers breaking ground upward of 8,800 units last year—15.0 percent below 2023’s count of more than 10,400—the same source shows.
Outside of ground-up development, Brooklyn’s supply is slated to expand through office-to-residential conversions as well. Just this week, Watermark Capital Group secured $125 million for the adaptive reuse of a 204,000-square-foot office building at 175 Pearl St.
