Carlyle, Botanic sell LIC industrial for $49M to Montperia Group

UPDATED: Montperia Group through the entity 2402 Qps LLC paid $49 million to the Carlyle Group and Botanic Properties through the entity 24-02 Qps Owner, L.L.C. for the school building (W4) at 24-02 Queens Plaza South in Long Island City, Queens.
Crain’s New York reported the buyer is Montperia Group, which is the new name for the company formerly known as Ampiera Group.
The deal closed on August 22, 2023 and was recorded on August 30, 2023. The property has 74,105 square feet of built space and 110,250 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 184,240 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $661 and the price per buildable square foot is $265 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 sellers bought the property on September 14, 2020, for $40 million. The signatory for Carlyle Group was Jason Hart. The signatory for Ampiera Group was Alex Lau. The contract date was April 24, 2023.
Maxim Capital Group provided a $25 million acquisition loan. The prior owners had no secured debt on the property.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Ampiera Group purchased one property in one transaction for a total of $11 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Carlyle Group purchased 183 properties in 164 transactions for a total of $1.3 billion and sold two properties in two transactions for a total of $18.4 million over the same time period.

The property

The specialty building in Long Island City has 74,105 square feet of built space and 110,250 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 184,240 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 101 feet and is 240 feet deep with a total lot size of 24,500 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is M1-5/R9 which allows for up to 5 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing and up to 7.52 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $8.3 million.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $2,235 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

On the lot, there is one active major alteration construction project for a 195,368 square-foot B building. The project was submitted by Alex Adarichev with plans filed December 17, 2021 and it has not been permitted yet.

The neighborhood

In Long Island City, The bulk, or 32 percent of the 60.1 million square feet of commercial built space are industrial buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 31 percent of the space. In sales, Long Island City has the 8th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $1.9 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Long Island City is the 4th most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 8.3 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 14 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of two of the three commercial properties representing 116,406 square feet of the 147,906 square feet. The two identified owners are The Independent Lic Owners Corp. and Carlyle Group.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 91,064 square feet. It is a 91,064 square-foot business (B) building submitted by Roy Kirsh with plans filed July 16, 2014 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 50 percent of the 147,906 square feet of built space are specialty buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 29 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Carlyle Group owned at least 243 commercial properties with 2,390 residential units in New York City with 2,839,856 square feet and a city-determined market value of $737.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $1.1 billion in debt, with top three lenders as Invesco Real Estate, Invesco, and Santander Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 52 percent of the 2,839,856 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 15 percent of the space. The bulk, or 39 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Queens next at 32 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Ampiera Group owned at least five commercial properties with 87 residential units in New York City with 33,035 square feet and a city-determined market value of $12.5 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $64.7 million in debt, with top three lenders as Industrial and Commercial Bank Of China, Ponce Bank, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 100 percent of the 33,035 square feet of built space are mixed-use properties, with development properties next occupying 0 percent of the space. They are all located in Queens.

Correction: An earlier version of this post used the former name for the company, Ampiera Group, instead of the new name, Montperia Group.

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