EMP Capital Group pays $15.4M for dev site in Astoria

EMP Capital Group through the entity Emp 37th Street LLC paid $15.4 million to Jeffrey Sitomer and Jeff Gruebel through the entity Cartergavin37 LLC for the industrial building (E9) at 35-43 37th Street in Astoria, Queens. The expected use is ground up development.
The deal closed on February 17, 2026 and was recorded on February 19, 2026. The property has 7,020 square feet of built space and 16,060 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 23,108 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $2,193 and the price per buildable square foot is $666 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 Jeffrey Sitomer and Jeff Gruebel was Jeffrey Sitomer and Jeff Gruebel. The signatory for EMP Capital Group was Eli Pariente. The contract date was August 22, 2025.

Prior sales, articles and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer EMP Capital Group purchased two properties in two transactions for a total of $10.6 million and sold one property in one transaction for a total of $25 million over the past 24 months.
The seller Jeffrey Sitomer had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period. The 7,020-square-foot property generated revenue of $134,961 or $19 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The industrial building in Astoria has 7,020 square feet of built space and 16,060 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 23,108 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 169 feet and is 82 feet deep with a total lot size of 11,554 square feet. The lot is irregular. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $748,000.

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 Astoria, The bulk, or 36 percent of the 40.2 million square feet of commercial built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 31 percent of the space. In sales, Astoria has 2.4 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $805.2 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 2nd highest in Queens. For development, Astoria has 1.5 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 5th highest in Queens. It had 2.3 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 6 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There were eight pre-foreclosure suit filed among other industrial buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 91 percent of the 108,930 square feet of built space are specialty buildings, with industrial buildings next occupying 9 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Emp Capital Group owned at least seven commercial properties with 495 residential units in New York City with 54,081 square feet and a city-determined market value of $7.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 75 percent of the 54,081 square feet of built space are industrial properties, with mixed-use properties next occupying 25 percent of the space. They are all located in Brooklyn.

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