Slate Group’s David Schwartz and 541-555 Fourth Avenue in Park Slope (Google Maps, Slate)
Slate Property Group is now the sole owner of a Park Slope building containing a homeless shelter and affordable housing.
The developer bought out AEW’s and Adam America’s stake in the property at 541-555 Fourth Avenue for $86 million, records show. The 11-story property has 134 units, including 99 shelter units operated by the nonprofit Women in Need and 35 affordable housing units.
In a statement, Slate said that as a sole owner, “we are better positioned to secure the building’s future, help vulnerable New Yorkers and provide WIN (Women in Need), the operator, a long term lease to deliver much needed onsite supportive services and resources to the tenants.”
Slate refinanced the property with $65 million from UBS Bank, which includes $18.5 million in new debt, records show.
In 2019, the city agreed to pay $261 million to Women in Need to operate two Park Slope shelters for eight years. The proposal was heavily contested by residents, with some arguing that the city was overpaying for this space, while others said the addition of homeless shelters would negatively impact the community.
Slate and its partners purchased the site for $19.9 million in 2016, from Anshel Friedman and Aaron Karpen. The site was previously home to eight contiguous townhouses. Friedman and Karpen had already won Department of Buildings approval for a plan to raze the existing townhouses and develop a 12-story rental building when Slate and Adam America took over.
Slate is a major apartment landlord in Brooklyn. Over the last decade, Slate’s principals, Martin Nussbaum and David Schwartz, have purchased over $4 billion in real estate assets, according to its website. The firm’s portfolio includes 1 Flatbush Avenue, 10 Nevins Street and 51 Jay Street.
