Benjamin Companies, Beechwood Homes sign $11M refi for retail in Arverne
Benjamin Companies and Beechwood Homes through the entity Benjamin Beechwood Market LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender TD Bank valued at $11 million for two retail properties including the retail building (K1) at 301 Beach 67th Street in Arverne, Queens and retail building (K8) at 70-20 Rockaway Beach Boulevard in Arverne, Queens.
The deal closed on May 1, 2025 and was recorded on May 9, 2025. The prior lender was U.S. Bank which held debt that had an original loan amount of $11 million.The two properties have 79,435 square feet of built space and 638,149 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 717,702 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $138 and the price per buildable square foot is $15 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 and Beechwood Homes was Denise R. Coyle and Michael Dubb . The signatory for TD Bank was Brian Terry .
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 301 Beach 67th Street.
Prior sales and revenue
The two properties with a total of 79,435 square feet of built space generated revenue of $3.9 million per year or $49 per square foot.
The property
The retail building in Arverne has 79,435 square feet of built space and 638,149 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 717,702 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 512 feet and is 158 feet deep with a total lot size of 69,065 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R6 which allows for up to 2.43 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $5.6 million.
Violations and lawsuits
There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the properties for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have received one DOB violation, $1,250 in ECB penalties, and $1,300 in OATH penalties in the last year.
Development
For the tax lot buildings, one out of the two buildings received a initial certificate of occupancy in the last ten years. There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $1 million on this tax lot.
The neighborhood
In Arverne, The bulk, or 38 percent of the 1.3 million square feet of commercial built space are specialty buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 33 percent of the space. In sales, Arverne has the 47th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in Queens with $13.5 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Arverne has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 230,908 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 17 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.
The block
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.
The majority, or 100 percent of the 20,980 square feet of built space are retail buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 0 percent of the space.
The borrower
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Benjamin Companies owned at least one commercial property with 88 residential units in New York City with 120,994 square feet and a city-determined market value of $32.9 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 elevator property. It is located in Queens.
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