Essex Plaza plans 168-unit, senior-focused housing in North Corona

J. Kenneth Pagano, CEO of Essex Plaza Management Associates and principal of property owner Settlement Housing Fund submitted a new building construction project for a 168-unit, 85,201 square-foot residential (R-2) building at 32-14 111th Street in North Corona, Queens. The plan was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings on October 25, 2022 under job number Q08012514. It calls for the construction of an eight-story building. The project is described in the filing as: new building, eight-story, 106 residential AIRS (Affordable Independent Residence for Seniors) units. The architect is Aufgang Architects.

The property

The 32-14 111 Street parcel has frontage of 180 feet and is 120 feet deep with a total lot size of 20,497 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R6A which allows for up to 3 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $261,000. The most recent loan totaled $8.4 million and was provided by NYC Housing Development Corporation on April 28, 2021.

Prior sales and revenue

The property is owned by Settlement Housing Fund.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has not received any significant violations in the last year.

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property since September of 2020.

The neighborhood

In North Corona, the bulk, or 32 percent of the 4.9 million square feet of commercial built space are mixed-use buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 29 percent of the space. In sales, North Corona has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $107.5 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 19th highest in Queens. For development, North Corona has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 21st highest in Queens. It had 207,393 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 4 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of two of the nine commercial properties representing 75,201 square feet of the 134,916 square feet. The identified owner is Settlement Housing Fund. On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 206,606 square feet. The largest is a 65-unit, 121,405 square-foot R-2 building developed by Michael Weiss with plans filed May 8, 2020 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a 168-unit, 85,201 square-foot R-2 building developed by J. Kenneth Pagano with plans filed October 25, 2022 and it has not been permitted yet.

The owner

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Settlement Housing Fund owned at least 22 commercial properties in New York City with 1,151,792 square feet and a city-determined market value of $59.6 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $351.9 million in debt, with top three lenders as NYC Housing Development Corporation, Community Preservation Corporation, and UMB Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 55 percent of the 1,151,792 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 37 percent of the space. The bulk, or 43 percent of the built space, is in Bronx, with Brooklyn next at 38 percent of the space.

The surrounding

This is the first commercial real estate event of interest identified within the 400-foot radius of 32-14 111 Street in the past 24 months.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.