Tavros, Charney Land $300M in Gowanus Construction Loans

If construction loans are what make projects real, Tavros and Charney’s two-tower Gowanus development is about to get off the ground.

Nicholas Silvers and Sam Charney’s companies nabbed two construction loans totaling $300 million for their planned 631,000-square-foot development at 310 and 340 Nevins Street, one of the fast-changing neighborhood’s larger development properties.

Affinius Capital and Kennedy Wilson provided a $160 million loan for 340 Nevins Street, and TYKO Capital provided $140 million for 310 Nevins Street, according to a press release. A Newmark team including Jordan Roeschlaub and Chris Kramer arranged the financing.

Excavation and foundations were already under way at the 2.3-acre property, according to New York YIMBY. The 668-unit project was designed by Fogarty Finger Architects and will have ground-floor retail space and a public waterfront esplanade. Twenty-five percent of the apartments will be permanently affordable, meeting the terms of the Gowanus rezoning.

Tavros Capital and Charney Companies bought the full-block site along the Gowanus Canal from Property Markets Group for $102 million in 2022, with the ink barely dry on the new zoning. It is three blocks from another Tavros and Charney project, 251 Douglas Street.

Canyon Partners, Tavros and Charney also have a joint venture to develop 585 Union Street, one block from the Nevins Street project.

The City Council rezoned the largely industrial neighborhood in 2021 to allow mixed-use developments on 82 blocks. City officials estimated the change will bring more than 8,500 new apartments, 3,000 of which will be income-restricted. But early returns showed development exceeding the expected pace.

The newly financed project is in an Opportunity Zone between Union and Carroll streets on the eastern side of the canal. Kevin Maloney’s PMG, one of the earliest investors in the neighborhood, paid $14 million for it in 2012.

The development was one of 18 Gowanus projects that Gov. Kathy Hochul announced in February would receive an alternative to the property tax break 421a. Subsequently, the 421a completion deadline was extended five years to 2031, so those projects will likely aim for 421a rather than the workaround.