Domain Cos. buys contract for LIC dev site, to close next month

Domain Companies through the entity 5-17 47th Ave LLC signed a memorandum of contract as buyer with the Graduate Center Foundation Housing Corporation as seller for the development site made up of parcels including 5-13 47th Avenue and 5-19 47th Avenue in Long Island City, Queens. The expected use is ground up development.
The deal closed on November 14, 2024 and was recorded on January 13, 2025. The five properties have zero square feet of built space and 93,626 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 93,626 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data.

The signatory for Graduate Center Foundation Housing Corporation was Myron S. Glucksman. The signatory for Domain Companies was Chris Papamichael. The contract date was June 30, 2024. Vorea Group as buyer signed a contract June 30, 2024 with the Graduate Center Foundation Housing Corporation, then assigned the contract to Domain. The Center is a nonprofit. There was a down payment of $1.075 million made. It was released from the escrow and sent to the seller. The closing is scheduled for Feb. 6 2025.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Domain Companies had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Graduate Center Foundation Housing Corporation had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period.

The property

The zoning is M1-4 which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $3.3 million.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the properties for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have received two DOB violations, $13,650 in ECB penalties, and $15,050 in OATH penalties 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 8th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $1.1 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 6.2 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 development buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On the tax block of 47th Avenue, PincusCo has identified the owners of 13 of the 21 commercial properties representing 179,276 square feet of the 199,876 square feet. The largest owner is O’Connor Capital Partners, followed by Plaxall and then City University Of New York.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 72 percent of the 199,876 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 17 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Graduate Center Foundation Housing Corporation owned at least one commercial property with 78 residential units in New York City with 65,000 square feet and a city-determined market value of $14.4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $12.4 million in debt, borrowed from NYC Housing Development Corporation. The portfolio consists of at least a single elevator property. It is located in Manhattan.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Domain Companies owned at least 12 commercial properties with 923 residential units in New York City with 1,772,271 square feet and a city-determined market value of $19.8 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $411.4 million in debt, with top three lenders as JLL, PNC Bank, and Carmel Partners respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 97 percent of the 1,772,271 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with industrial properties next occupying 3 percent of the space. The bulk, or 97 percent of the built space, is in Bronx, with Brooklyn next at 3 percent of the space.

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