Asian Americans For Equality signs $79.2M construction loan in Flushing
Asian Americans For Equality through the entity Magnolia Gardens Developer Inc. as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender UMB Bank valued at $79.2 million for the development building (V1) at 133-04 39th Avenue in Flushing, Queens.
There is a new building project for a 90-unit, 62,932 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Thomas Yu with plans filed November 29, 2021 and permitted February 13, 2024.
The deal closed on February 20, 2024 and was recorded on March 5, 2024.
The signatory for Asian Americans For Equality was Thomas Yu.
The property
The parcel has frontage of 89 feet and is 136 feet deep with a total lot size of 8,388 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is C4-2 which allows for up to 3.4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 2.43 times FAR for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.4 million.
Violations and lawsuits
The property was involved in one lawsuit and zero bankruptcies over the past two years. The suit was a $1 million judgment concerning a FOIL filed on May 31, 2022, by SHANGHAI ASSOCIATION IN USA, INC. against City of New York. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $1,250 in ECB penalties and $2,580 in OATH penalties in the last year.
The neighborhood
In Flushing, The bulk, or 45 percent of the 37.7 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 20 percent of the space. In sales, Flushing has 3.2 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $944.2 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 2nd highest in Queens. For development, Flushing has 2.3 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 5th highest in Queens. It had 2.2 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 6 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.
The block
On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of two of the 18 commercial properties representing 6,759 square feet of the 85,940 square feet. The two identified owners are Wu Jing Jing and Jin Xiao Chen.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 124,060 square feet. The largest is a 90-unit, 62,932 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Thomas Yu with plans filed November 29, 2021 and permitted February 13, 2024. The second largest is a 61,128 square-foot business (B) building submitted by Siukwan Chan with plans filed August 11, 2016 and it has not been permitted yet.
The majority, or 91 percent of the 85,940 square feet of built space are mixed-use buildings, with office buildings next occupying 7 percent of the space.
The borrower
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Asian Americans For Equality owned at least 25 commercial properties with 393 residential units in New York City with 322,560 square feet and a city-determined market value of $63.8 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 52 percent of the 322,560 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with elevator properties next occupying 48 percent of the space. The bulk, or 98 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Queens next at 2 percent of the space.
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