Cardiologist in contract to pay $2.75M for shuttered Ridgewood church

Gopi Punukollu, a cardiologist and investor, signed a contract dated March 9, 2023 to pay $2.75 million for the two parcels comprising the now-closed St. John’s United Methodist Church at 17-37 Linden Street and an adjacent two-unit property at 17-35 Linden Street, in Ridgewood, Queens.

The 17-37 Linden Street property in Ridgewood has 6,060 square feet of built space and 6,584 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 12,662 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The church parcel has frontage of 40 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 6,331 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R6B which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $616,000.

The brokers were Laffey Real Estate for the seller and Action Agency for the buyer. The signatory for the seller was Tiffany M. French Goffe. A congregation then known as Ridgewood Heights German Methodist Episcopal Church constructed the church in 1906, which closed in July 2019. 

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of seven of the 16 commercial properties representing 35,525 square feet of the 79,700 square feet. The largest owner is Anthony Pagan, followed by Carlos Reinozo and then Cesar Cid. There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The surrounding

This is the first commercial real estate event of interest identified within the 400-foot radius of 17-37 Linden Street in the past 24 months.

Case LINK

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