$9.5M note sold on mid-construction, 34-unit project in Flushing

The entity Sanford Avenue Servicing LLC through the signatory of developer Ken Huang bought a note with an original principal of $9.5 million from Popular Bank secured by Xi Zhao’s 34-unit residential elevator building (D7) at 140-44 Sanford Avenue in Flushing, Queens.

On these lots, there is one active new building construction project for a 34-unit, 27,586 square-foot residential (R-2) building. The project was submitted by Xi Zhao and filed by Xi Zhao with plans filed August 23, 2019 and permitted October 21, 2021. The job number is 421794259.

The deal closed on March 29, 2024 and was recorded on May 10, 2024. The prior lender was Popular Bank which held debt that had an original loan amount of $9.5 million.
The signatory for the property owner for the 2021 loan, Sanford Tower LLC was Xi Zhao, also known as Dennis Zhao.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the properties have received 14 DOB violations, $43,437 in ECB penalties, and $44,312 in OATH penalties in the last year.

The block

On the tax block of 140-44 Sanford Avenue, PincusCo has identified the owners of five of the 10 commercial properties representing 130,452 square feet of the 209,712 square feet. The largest owner is Sanford Tower LLC, followed by Kaled Management and then Benjamin Wai.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 35,037 square feet. The largest is a 34-unit, 27,586 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Xi Zhao and filed by Xi Zhao with plans filed August 23, 2019 and permitted October 19, 2021. The second largest is a eight-unit, 7,451 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Harman Wang with plans filed May 13, 2020 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 59 percent of the 209,712 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 23 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Xi Zhao owned at least three commercial properties with 26 residential units in New York City with 32,324 square feet and a city-determined market value of $6.5 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $14.6 million in debt, borrowed from Berkshire Bank and S3 Capital. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 100 percent of the 32,324 square feet of built space are office properties, with development properties next occupying 0 percent of the space. They are all located in Queens.

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