Buyer wants out of $16M Flushing deal

The contract vendee for a $16 million purchase of adjacent properties at 144-32 and 144-36 Northern Boulevard in Flushing, Queens, wants to terminate the deal five months after filing bankruptcy in order to hold on to the contract, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday in Queens County Supreme Court. LINK

The buyer, Shi Yun Pan, who is the plaintiff and contract vendee, sought to purchase the property for $16 million but alleges the property was marketed and is being used as commercial. The problem, the complaint says, is the transfer tax on the residential property is higher than anticipated, and so the plaintiff seeks to cancel the contract and be refunded the deposit of $800,000.

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

The buyer through the entity GBZ Northern Realty LLC, filed for bankruptcy in the Eastern District of New York in August 2023 (1-23-43119-nhl) in order to hold on to the contract. That bankruptcy case was dismissed in November, but the debtor filed an appeal which is ongoing.

According to the complaint, “As a result of Defendants’ misrepresentations, the overall real estate transfer taxes are significantly more than represented and promised, and the use of the Properties thereof as a store and parking lot prohibited as the front yard of the residential property was illegally converted into a driveway and parking lot with illegal curb cuts and its use contrary to the certificate of occupancy.”

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of two of the 13 commercial properties representing 61,880 square feet of the 218,808 square feet. The two identified owners are S.W. Management and Thet Lim. There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 144-36 Northern Boulevard, PincusCo identified four commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those four items, two were sales above $5 million totaling $93.2 million. The most recent of the two was Jian Fei Chen which bought the development site (V0) on 37th Avenue for $6.7 million from Jin Kao Hu on August 23, 2023. Of those four items, two were loans above $5 million totaling $107.2 million. The most recent of the two was HCRE Hung & Chong Real Estate in which borrowed $60.2 million from Shanghai Commercial Bank secured by the 186-unit rental (D6) on 144-61 Northern Boulevard on November 30, 2023.

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