Bi Chen pays $12M to Xi Zhao, Ze Ming Cheng for under-construction Flushing rentals

Bi Chen through the entity Blackdragon Sanford LLC paid $12 million to Xi Zhao and Ze Ming Cheng through the entity Sanford Tower LLC for three adjacent under-construction residential buildings each with 34 residential units, at 140-42, 140-44 and 140-46 Sanford Avenue in Flushing, Queens. The expected use is to complete construction and then own the cash flowing property.
The deal closed on August 1, 2025 and was recorded on August 18, 2025. The three properties have 36,007 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $333 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 Xi Zhao and Ze Ming Cheng was Xi Zhao and Ze Ming Cheng. The signatory for Bi Chen was Bi Chen. The contract date was November 13, 2024.

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 140-46 Sanford Avenue.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Bi Chen had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Xi Zhao had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period. The three properties with a total of 36,007 square feet of built space generated revenue of $1.3 million per year or $36 per square foot. The sale price per square foot was $333.

The property

The residential elevator building with 34 residential units in Flushing has 36,007 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 32 feet and is 83 feet deep with a total lot size of 2,509 square feet. The zoning is R7-1 which allows for up to 3.44 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.8 million. The most recent loan totaled $1.8 million and was provided by Silicon Valley Hitech Group LLC on August 1, 2025.

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 $52,500 in ECB penalties and $53,100 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

On these lots, there is one active new building construction project, 421794259, for a 34-unit, 27,586 square-foot 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 block

On the tax block of 140-46 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 Kaled Management, followed by Benjamin Wai and then Xi Zhao.
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 seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Xi Zhao owned at least six commercial properties with 155 residential units in New York City with 32,324 square feet and a city-determined market value of $7.8 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $14.6 million in debt, with top three lenders as Berkshire Bank, S3 Capital, and Ken Huang respectively. 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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