Blackstone alleges $20M loan at Astoria “creative office” building in default

Blackstone Group through the entity SIG CRE 2023 Venture LLC alleges a $20 million loan Signature Bank originated in 2022 is in a maturity default, and is seeking to foreclose on the creative office building located at 9-20 35th Avenue in Astoria, Queens, as well as a parking lot securing the same loan on the same tax block at 35-31 9th Street. The borrower is Daryl Hagler, who bought the property, known as the Cigar Factory, from Brickman Associates in May 2022 for $26.3 million. That sale represented a decline in value from the $31.1 million Brickman paid for the building in 2015.

Court filings represent the positions of one party and are not necessarily accurate or complete.

Court LINK

Blackstone has been the most aggressive lender in terms of the number of individual pre-foreclosure actions filed in the city over the past year, with at least 52 cases totaling about $890 million filed since January 1, 2024, according to PincusCo data.

Daryl Hagler signed the loan with Signature Bank in 2022, as PincusCo reported at the time.

According to the complaint, “Pursuant to the terms of the Note, Borrower was required to make monthly payments of interest only commencing on November 10, 2022 and monthly thereafter on the tenth (10th) day of each month, with the balance of principal then remaining unpaid becoming due and payable with any accrued interest remaining unpaid on the Maturity Date of October 20, 2024… Borrower failed to remit payment to Plaintiff for all amounts due and owing under the Loan Documents on the Maturity Date of October 20, 2024.”

The property

The industrial building in Astoria has 102,670 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 210 feet and is 200 feet deep with a total lot size of 42,000 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R5 which allows for up to 1.25 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $9 million. The most recent loan totaled $20 million and was provided by Signature Bank on October 20, 2022.

Prior sales and revenue

This property was sold with another property by Brickman for $26.4 million to Daryl Hagler on May 5, 2022.

The 102,670-square-foot property generated revenue of $1.7 million or $17 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has received $2,500 in ECB penalties and $2,700 in OATH penalties in the last year.

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months.

The neighborhood

In Astoria, The bulk, or 36 percent of the 40.2 million square feet of commercial built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 31 percent of the space. In sales, Astoria has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $583.6 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 3rd highest in Queens. For development, Astoria has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 7th highest in Queens. It had 1.3 million 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 three of the 14 commercial properties representing 108,670 square feet of the 142,963 square feet. The two identified owners are Daryl Hagler and Mike Psoras. There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The owner

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Centers Health Care owned at least three commercial properties in New York City with 308,350 square feet and a city-determined market value of $36.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $20 million in debt, borrowed from Signature Bank. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 67 percent of the 308,350 square feet of built space are specialty properties, with industrial properties next occupying 33 percent of the space. The bulk, or 67 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Queens next at 33 percent of the space.

The surrounding

This is the first commercial real estate event of interest identified within the 400-foot radius of 35-19 9 Street in the past 24 months.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.