Ashkenazy signs $38.6M loan modification for retail in Little Neck

Ashkenazy Acquisition through the entity Douglaston Shopping Center Owner LLC as borrower signed a loan modification with lender Mesa West Capital through the entity Mwclf Rs Spe, LLC valued at $38.6 million for the retail building (K6) at 242-02 61st Avenue in Little Neck, Queens.
The deal closed on August 7, 2024 and was recorded on August 16, 2024. The prior lender was Mesa West Capital which held debt that had an original loan amount of $67.5 million.
The property has 344,292 square feet of built space and 65,663 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 410,399 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $112 and the price per buildable square foot is $94 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 owner bought the property on July 21, 2005, for $114.5 million. The signatory for Ashkenazy Acquisition was Ben Ashkenazy. The signatory for Mesa West Capital was Ronnie Gul. The original loan was $67.5 million given in 2015.

The property

The retail building in Little Neck has 344,292 square feet of built space and 65,663 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 410,399 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 1,082 feet and is 810 feet deep with a total lot size of 547,199 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 $55.3 million.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $4,000 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

For the tax lot building, it received its initial certificate of occupancy on August 9, 2012. On the lot, there are two active new building construction projects and major alteration projects with initial costs more than $5 million, totaling 972 square feet. The largest, 421397884, is a major alteration project for a 324,409 square-foot B building submitted by John Birnbaum with plans filed November 9, 2016 and permitted June 6, 2019. The second largest, 421641931, is a new building project for a 972 square-foot F-1 building submitted by Jerry Delaney with plans filed June 4, 2018 and permitted July 31, 2018.

The neighborhood

In Little Neck, The bulk, or 29 percent of the 2.2 million square feet of commercial built space are retail buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 22 percent of the space. In sales, Little Neck has the 32nd highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in Queens with $34 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Little Neck has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 63,595 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 3 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of one of the two commercial properties representing zero square feet of the 344,292 square feet. The identified owner is Marx Development Group.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 53,160 square feet. The largest is a 15-unit, 52,188 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Marx Development Group and filed by David Marx with plans filed January 24, 2022 and permitted May 18, 2022. The second largest is a 972 square-foot industrial (F-1) building submitted by Jerry Delaney with plans filed June 4, 2018 and permitted July 26, 2018.

The majority, or 100 percent of the 344,292 square feet of built space are retail buildings, with development buildings next occupying 0 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Ashkenazy Acquisition owned at least nine commercial properties in New York City with 666,249 square feet and a city-determined market value of $148.4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $189.1 million in debt, with top three lenders as Bank Hapoalim, Benefit Street Partners, and Wilmington Trust respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 52 percent of the 666,249 square feet of built space are retail properties, with hotel properties next occupying 25 percent of the space. The bulk, or 46 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Queens next at 32 percent of the space.

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