Diamond Realty Sells Retail, Office Component of Williamsburg’s Dime for $29M
Entertainment or hospitality tenants could fill the long-vacant retail space
By Isabelle Durso September 8, 2026 12:10 pm
reprints
The Dime, a 2020-built residential development in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, has found a new owner for its office and retail space, which includes the entire landmarked Dime Savings Bank of Williamsburg.
A group of local buyers, using the entities Dime Commercial Holdings and Dime Retail Holdings, purchased the long-vacant bank building at 209 Havemeyer Street and the commercial component at the base of the 23-story, 177-unit Dime building at 277 South Fifth Street from Mitsubishi Corporation’s Diamond Realty Investments for a total of $28.5 million, according to a source with knowledge of the deal and city records made public Friday.
The deal was completed in two separate transactions. The 95,000-square-foot office portion at the base of the Dime was purchased for $20.5 million, while the 55,000-square-foot retail space at the restored banking hall was acquired for $8 million, records show.
The buyers are Joel Teitelbaum and Shimon Brach, who own several commercial and residential properties across New York City. Anthony Strauser, executive vice president of residential at Diamond Realty, signed the deal for the seller, according to records.
Teitelbaum and Brach financed their purchase through a $20 million acquisition loan from lender Levon Capital, records show.
A CBRE team led by Daniel Kaplan brokered the deal for the seller, while the buyer did not have broker representation.
CBRE declined to comment, while spokespeople for Diamond Realty and Ripco Real Estate — the brokerage marketing the property’s retail space — did not respond to requests for comment. Teitelbaum and Brach, as well as a spokesperson for Levon Capital, could not be reached for comment.
In 2020, developers Tavros Capital and Charney Companies completed construction on the Dime as part of a larger project to preserve the adjacent Dime Savings Bank and build a new mixed-use development around it.
The 1908-built bank ended its run as an active bank branch in 2016, when Dime Community Bank sold the property — along with two adjacent sites and the air rights above the bank — to Tavros and Charney for $80 million. The historic building largely sat vacant while the developers built the Fogarty Finger-designed residential building behind and above it through a $150 million construction loan.
In 2022, Commercial Observer reported that Korean investment firm NH Investments & Securities was under contract to buy the Dime for $157.5 million, but the purchase did not include the property’s office or retail components.
It’s unclear when Diamond Realty acquired control of the office and retail units.
It’s also unclear what kind of retail tenants Teitelbaum and Brach are planning for the retail space at the old banking hall, but the source said entertainment- or hospitality-related tenants seem likely.
Electric vehicle company Revel is already an office tenant at the base of the Dime.
Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.
