Ofer Cohen, Daniel Lebor and Dan Marks.
Ofer Cohen, Daniel Lebor and Dan Marks
Founder and President; Partners at TerraCRG
Last year's rank: 95
For the Brooklyn-focused team at TerraCRG, which sees itself almost as a tracking stock for the borough’s performance, 2021 was a tale of two years: a pandemic-dampened first half, followed by an explosion of offers and deals.
TerraCRG has always prided itself on being involved and engaged in Brooklyn’s economic and civic evolution, playing key roles on boards focused on the Brooklyn Navy Yard and downtown Brooklyn in particular. Now, with the Gowanus rezoning passing the City Council in November 2021, the stage is set for the firm to reap the rewards of its long involvement in the neighborhood, and clean up from the cleanup of the Gowanus Canal.
“We were in the market when the rezoning was being challenged, when there was uncertainty, and closed on 300 Nevins, a $102 million asset that was the largest residential development site transaction in all of New York City last year,” said Cohen of the well-located site, boasting 505,000 buildable square feet. “It’s probably one of the most strategic sites in the Gowanus neighborhood.”
It’s also going to change rapidly. With the looming expiration of 421a, the development-friendly tax abatement, projects need to be in the ground by the middle of this June, meaning there will likely be a rush of cranes and crews to transform the industrial site. And it will all take place in a neighborhood the TerraCRG team has been intimately involved in for years; since 2022, it’s closed approximately a quarter of all commercial sales in the Gowanus rezoning area.
And that’s just one of the team’s additional pickups or sales in Brooklyn, where TerraCRG was part of the industrial boom. In 2021 it sold two key properties — 280 Johnson Avenue, a $27.5 million deal with Prologis, and 1301 Metropolitan Avenue, an $18 million deal — and then closed a $30 million deal in Greenpoint to start out 2022. Brooklyn is back to pre-pandemic levels of activity, a market with every pillar, from last-mile to multifamily, and the TerraCRG team believes its on track to seize the moment with potentially $9 billion in deals.
“We continue our laser focus in the market, especially as the pandemic slowly gets behind us,” Dan Marks said. “We’re ready to capitalize on the excitement Brooklyn has generated.”
