Essex Plaza Management signs $54.2M construction loan for 168-unit project in North Corona

Essex Plaza Management Associates through the entity Astoria Towers II Housing Dev. Fund Corp. as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender NYC Housing Development Corporation valued at $54.2 million for the development building (V1) at 32-20 111th Street in North Corona, Queens.
The deal closed on June 30, 2023 and was recorded on July 12, 2023. The property has zero square feet of built space and 61,488 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 61,488 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per buildable square foot is $881 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 owner bought the property on April 28, 2021, for $3.4 million. The signatory for Essex Plaza Management Associates was J. Kenneth Pagano.

The property

The parcel has frontage of 180 feet and is 120 feet deep with a total lot size of 20,496 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R6A which allows for up to 3 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $300,000. The most recent loan totaled $8.4 million and was provided by NYC Housing Development Corporation on April 28, 2021.

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

On the lot, there are two active new building construction projects and major alteration projects with initial costs more than $5 million, totaling 206,606 square feet. The largest is a new building project for a 65-unit, 121,405 square-foot R-2 building submitted by Engel Burman and filed by Michael Weiss with plans filed May 8, 2020 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a new building project for a 168-unit, 85,201 square-foot R-2 building submitted by Essex Plaza Management Associates and filed by J. Kenneth Pagano with plans filed October 25, 2022 and it has not been permitted yet.

The neighborhood

In North Corona, The bulk, or 29 percent of the 5.3 million square feet of commercial built space are mixed-use buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 26 percent of the space. In sales, North Corona has had very little sales volume relative to other neighborhoods with $175 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, North Corona has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 307,514 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.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of two of the nine commercial properties representing 75,201 square feet of the 134,916 square feet. The identified owner is Settlement Housing Fund.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 206,606 square feet. The largest is a 65-unit, 121,405 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Engel Burman and filed by Michael Weiss with plans filed May 8, 2020 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a 168-unit, 85,201 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Essex Plaza Management Associates and filed by J. Kenneth Pagano with plans filed October 25, 2022 and permitted June 28, 2023.

The majority, or 56 percent of the 134,916 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with industrial buildings next occupying 35 percent of the space.

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