Dai Ping Zheng pays $4.5M for LIC dev site, former owner lost to lender

Dai Ping Zheng through the entity 2310 Ds LLC paid $4.5 million through a “real estate owned” transaction to Rosenthal & Rosenthal through the entity 23-10 44th Drive LLC for the retail building (K1) at 23-10 44th Drive in Long Island City, Queens. The expected use is ground up development.
The deal closed on February 11, 2025 and was recorded on February 24, 2025. The property has 2,500 square feet of built space and 22,500 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 25,000 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $1,800 and the price per buildable square foot is $180 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 seller, which was the former lender who provided a $5 million loan that fell into default, acquired the property on March 28, 2024, through a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure with a transfer price of $4.7 million. The signatory for Rosenthal & Rosenthal was James Occhiogrosso . The signatory for Dai Ping Zheng was Dai Ping Zheng. The contract date was December 4, 2024.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Dai Ping Zheng purchased one property in one transaction for a total of $2 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Rosenthal & Rosenthal purchased one property in one transaction for a total of $4.7 million and sold two properties in one transaction for a total of $15.5 million over the same time period. The 2,500-square-foot property generated revenue of $95,993 or $38 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The retail building in Long Island City has 2,500 square feet of built space and 22,500 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 25,000 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 25 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 2,500 square feet. The zoning is C5-3 which allows for up to 15 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 10 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $442,000.

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 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 $1 million on this tax lot.

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 9th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $1.2 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Long Island City is the 6th most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 6.1 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 10 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There was one pre-foreclosure suit filed among other retail buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of three of the five commercial properties representing 1,365,240 square feet of the 1,367,916 square feet. The largest owner is Quadrum Global, followed by Xiao Feng Zhang and then Rosenthal & Rosenthal.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 6,314 square feet. It is a four-unit, 6,314 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by HML Developments and filed by Naftali Liebermann with plans filed August 9, 2024 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 99 percent of the 1.4 million square feet of built space are office buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 0 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Rosenthal & Rosenthal owned at least one commercial property in New York City with 2,500 square feet and a city-determined market value of $442,000. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio consists of at least a single retail property. It is located in Queens.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Dai Ping Zheng owned at least one commercial property with two residential units in New York City with 3,900 square feet and a city-determined market value of $1.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio consists of at least a single mixed-use property. It is located in Queens.

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