The most prolific developers in the most active borough for development
April 01, 2007 By Stuart W. Elliott

The developer famous for single-handedly creating the neighborhood of Dumbo out of industrial property on the edge of Brooklyn is still going strong.

Research by The Real Deal tracked the biggest developers in Brooklyn, and found that Two Trees Management, founded by David Walentas, led all other Brooklyn developers in the number of apartments brought to market in the past two years. However, only a fraction of its latest units are actually in Dumbo.

The top 10 developers have completed or have in the works some 5,800 units since 2005. That makes up a sizable portion of the more than 12,000 condo units approved to begin sales by the state Attorney General’s office over the last two years in Brooklyn. The borough also led all others in building permits issued in 2005 and 2006.

Two Trees jumped to the top of the list by completing several large-scale projects of more than 250 units in a borough known for its smaller-scale construction in comparison to Manhattan.

The same building-big approach held true for Douglaston Development. By virtue of one enormous project on the rezoned Williamsburg waterfront, the Edge — totaling 891 units and a million square feet — Douglaston hit number two on the list.

Katan Developers, which finished number three, followed the more traditional Brooklyn mold with projects that averaged around 60 units, mostly located on Park Slope’s Fourth Avenue. The company led by Isaac Katan had the most condo projects of any developer on the list, totaling 11 developments in the past two years.

Boymelgreen Developers came in next on the list, with nine condo projects developed or in the works since 2005. The company is also planning a massive project known as Gowanus Village, which was not included in the list because the survey only tallied projects in the immediate pipeline where a definitive number of units have been announced.

For the same reason, more distant projects like Forest City Ratner’s Atlantic Yards were not included. The project is slated to add 6,000 apartments to the borough — more than all the developers on this list had in the works over a two-year period. A long-rumored plan for 4,000 units by the Park Tower Group on the Greenpoint waterfront also wasn’t included.

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