Durst signs $450M refi at 958-unit Sven in LIC, was on market for $800M

The Durst Organization through the entity Qpp LLC as borrower signed a senior loan with lender Wells Fargo valued at $450 million for the 958-unit rental building completed in 2022, the Sven at 29-59 Northern Boulevard in Long Island City, Queens, as well as several smaller properties. The family-led firm had put the property on the market seeking $800 million, The Real Deal reported in January 2024.
The financing closed on May 31, 2024 and was recorded on June 18, 2024. The seven properties have 896,757 square feet of built space and 373,168 square feet of additional air rights according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $501 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 city land records say the Sven building has 882,579 square feet.

Prior sales and revenue

The owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Jonathan Durst, head officer and Dan Mogolesko, agent. The business entities are Royal Realty Corp and Qpp Llc. Out of the seven properties, five with a total of 896,757 square feet of built space generated revenue of $34.1 million per year.

The property

The parcel has frontage of 108 feet and is 228 feet deep with a total lot size of 22,255 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is M1-6/R10 which allows for up to 10 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing and up to 10 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $177.1 million.
The parcel has frontage of 34 feet and is 115 feet deep with a total lot size of 4,470 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is M1-6/R10 which allows for up to 10 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing and up to 10 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $2.6 million.
The parcel has frontage of 65 feet and is 131 feet deep with a total lot size of 25,432 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is M1-6/R10 which allows for up to 10 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing and up to 10 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $2.3 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 one DOB violation in the last year.

Development

On these lots, there are seven active new building construction projects and major alteration projects with initial costs more than $5 million, totaling 803,995 square feet. The largest is a new building project for a 958-unit, 784,015 square-foot R-2 building submitted by Durst Organization and filed by Jonathan Drescher with plans filed June 26, 2017 and permitted November 30, 2018. The second largest is a new building project for a 8,256 square-foot M building submitted by Thomas Duffe with plans filed August 22, 2017 and permitted September 21, 2018.

The block

On the tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of nine of the 11 commercial properties representing 946,033 square feet of the 946,033 square feet. The identified owner is Durst Organization.
On the tax block, there were 12 new building construction projects totaling 3,195,635 square feet. The largest is a 930-unit, 829,260 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Property Markets Group and filed by Ned White with plans filed March 10, 2015 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a 885-unit, 792,200 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Property Markets Group and filed by Ned White with plans filed March 4, 2015 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 93 percent of the 946,033 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with office buildings next occupying 5 percent of the space.

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