A&E pays $130M to Benjamin Companies for 1056-unit complex in Holliswood

A&E Real Estate Holdings through the entity Cunningham Heights, LLC paid $130 million to Benjamin Companies through the entity Cunningham Associates, L.P. for midblock 384-unit residential walkup building at 86-09 Grand Central Parkway in Holliswood, Queens, midblock 288-unit residential walkup building at 86-50 Francis Lewis Boulevard in Holliswood, Queens, and midblock 192-unit residential walkup building at 206-09 86th Road in Holliswood, Queens.

The deal closed on February 24, 2022 and was recorded on March 7, 2022. The four properties have 820,608 square feet of built space and 109,029 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 907,631 square feet according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $158 and the price per buildable square foot is $143 per the PincusCo analysis. (The price per square foot analysis is the transaction price divided by square feet as reported in public records and assumes no air rights have been sold.)

The signatory for Benjamin Companies was Danielle L. Rizzo. The signatory for A&E Real Estate Holdings was Darryl Smith. The development has more than 1,000 apartments across four city blocks and was 99 percent occupied, The Real Deal reported.

Because multiple properties have been transacted, some of the following sections will follow the property with the largest assessed value, which in this case, is the property on 86-09 Grand Central Parkway.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, Pincusco has records that the buyer A&E Real Estate Holdings purchased four properties in four transactions for a total of $135.8 million over the past 24 months.
The seller Benjamin Companies had not purchased any other properties and sold one properties in one transactions for a total of $19.8 million over the same time period. The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development included Deborah Benjamin, head officer and Denise Coyle, officer. The business entities were Wen Management Corp. and Cunningham Associates, L.P. The four properties with a total of 820,608 square feet of built space generated revenue of $18.3 million per year or $22 per square foot. The sale price per square foot was $158.

The property

The 86-09 Grand Central Parkway parcel has frontage of 1,137 feet and is 217 feet deep with a total lot size of 432,200 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R4 which allows for up to 0.75 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $17.5 million.The property has a city-determined energy rating of 100 out of 100.

Violations and lawsuits

The properties were not involved in any lawsuits or bankruptcies in the past years. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have received 14 housing violations, $1,000 in OATH penalties, and two housing litigations in the last year.

Development

There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $5 million on this tax lot.

The neighborhood

In Holliswood, the bulk, or 46 percent of the 4.6 million square feet of built space are 1-4 family buildings, with residential elevator buildings next occupying 23 percent of the space. In sales, Holliswood has not had any sales in the last two years. For development, Holliswood has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 72,308 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 2 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

All properties are residential walkup.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Benjamin Companies owned at least one commercial property with 143,839 square feet and a city-determined market value of $14.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $29.5 million in debt, borrowed from People’s United Bank. The portfolio consists of at least a single residential elevator property. It is located in Queens.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that A&E Real Estate Holdings owned at least 153 commercial properties with 10,989,950 square feet and a city-determined market value of $1.2 billion. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $1.5 billion in debt, with top three lenders as Signature Bank, JPMorgan Chase, and Deutsche Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 77 percent of the 10,989,950 square feet of built space are residential elevator properties, with residential walkup properties next occupying 23 percent of the space. The bulk, or 56 percent of the built space, is in Queens, with Manhattan next at 30 percent of the space.

Surrounding

PincusCo has not identified any commerCial real estate items of interest within a 400-foot radius of 86-09 Grand Centrl Parkway that occurred over the past 24 months.

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