Having already transformed the neighboring Greenpoint wharf at 1 Java Street into one of Brooklyn's largest geothermal residential complexes, Lendlease and Australian pension giant Aware Super weren't about to let a rival developer grab the next pier over. They paid $43 million—an even $200 per buildable square foot—to acquire the 215,000-square-foot development site at 65 West Street, gazing directly across the East River at Midtown's Chrysler Building. When the deed closed on December 18, 2025, Lendlease and Aware Super had officially taken down 65 West Street from Greenpoint Lumber & Industrial Heirs for $43 million, with Cushman & Wakefield brokering the trade.

Look past the sticker price and the trade tells a clear story about replacement cost in Brooklyn. At $200 a square foot—or $179,167 a door across its 240 apartments— across 215,000 square feet, the closing price marks a 38.7 percent step-up over the $31 million basis recorded in April 2016. In today's five-borough construction market, buying modern or well-maintained brick at $200 a square foot still beats the time and cost of digging a foundation from scratch.

Bank OZKStands Behind Brooklyn's Waterfront Builders

The real tell in any Brooklyn closing sits on the debt side of the ledger. To fund the purchase, Lendlease and Aware Super locked in a $25.8 million senior land & pre-development facility from Bank OZK at 60 percent loan-to-value.

That loan commitment meant the buyers only needed to write a $17.2 million equity check to control a 22-story, 1948-vintage Greenpoint asset. Credit committees aren't stretching to 75 percent leverage anymore, but when a sponsor brings $17.2 million of real cash equity and a basis of $200 a square foot, lenders like Bank OZK are wide open for business.

From Our Desk

When we look at 65 West Street on our placement desk at Light Tower Group, the lesson for New York sponsors comes down to the marriage of entry basis and lender selection. Lendlease and Aware Super didn't try to fight the tape—they bought Greenpoint footage at $200 a square foot and paired it with the exact lender bucket built for this business plan. Bank OZK remains the undisputed heavyweight of New York development lending, and backing Lendlease at $200 per buildable foot on the Greenpoint waterfront sets the stage for the next $180 million construction takeout.