Criterion Group pays $26M for dev site in Ridgewood

The Criterion Group through the entity 1051 Irving Avenue Studios LLC paid $26 million to Bernd Messing and Stephanie Messing through the entity Messing Irving Realty LLC for the industrial building (F9) at 1051 Irving Avenue and two adjacent parcels in Ridgewood, Queens.
The deal closed on June 30, 2022 and was recorded on July 15, 2022. The three properties have 6,900 square feet of built space and 102,818 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 109,510 square feet according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $3,768 and the price per buildable square foot is $237 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 Bernd Messing and Stephanie Messing was Bernd Messing and Stephanie Messing. The signatory for Criterion Group was Shibber Khan.

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 1051 Irving Avenue.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, Pincusco has records that the buyer Criterion Group purchased two properties in two transactions for a total of $10.6 million and sold nine properties in five transactions for a total of $123.5 million over the past 24 months.
The seller Bernd Messing had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period. Out of the three properties, one with a total of 6,900 square feet of built space generated revenue of $137,250 per year.

The property

The 1051 Irving Avenue parcel has frontage of 200 feet and is 319 feet deep with a total lot size of 60,837 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R5B which allows for up to 1.35 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $2.5 million.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the properties since September of 2020. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have not received any significant violations in the last year.

Development

There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $5 million on this tax lot.

The neighborhood

In Ridgewood, the bulk, or 38 percent of the 19.9 million square feet of commercial built space are walkup buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 28 percent of the space. In sales, Ridgewood has had very little sales volume relative to other neighborhoods with $142.2 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Ridgewood has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 254,800 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 1 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On the tax block of 1051 Irving Avenue, PincusCo has identified the owners of two of the seven commercial properties representing 142,224 square feet of the 173,424 square feet. The identified owner is Extra Space Properties 143 Llc. There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 86 percent of the 173,424 square feet of built space are industrial buildings, with residential walkup buildings next occupying 10 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Criterion Group owned at least five commercial properties in New York City with 292,081 square feet and a city-determined market value of $15.6 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $64.2 million in debt, borrowed from New York Community Bank. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 100 percent of the 292,081 square feet of built space are industrial properties, with development properties next occupying 0 percent of the space. The bulk, or 85 percent of the built space, is in Queens, with Bronx next at 15 percent of the space.

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