FBL Development signs $25.1M construction loan with Ponce for 39-unit project in LIC

FBL Development through the entity Central Realty Lic LLC as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender Ponce Bank valued at $25.1 million for the 39-unit development at 43-05 to 43-11 Crescent Street in Long Island City, Queens.
On the lot, there is one active new building construction project for a 39-unit, 26,913 square-foot R-2 building. The project was submitted by Weitao Shi and filed by Weitao Shi with plans filed July 10, 2023 and it has not been permitted yet.
The deal closed on June 7, 2024 and was recorded on June 26, 2024. The prior lender was Ponce Bank which held debt that had an original loan amount of $6 million.The property has 4,405 square feet of built space and 22,509 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 26,925 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $5,698 and the price per buildable square foot is $932 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 March 21, 2023, for $10 million. The signatory for FBL Development was Weitao Shi and Yong Chen. The signatory for Ponce Bank was Steven A. Tsavaris.

Prior sales and revenue

The 4,405-square-foot property generated revenue of $134,292 or $30 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The industrial building in Long Island City has 4,405 square feet of built space and 22,509 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 26,925 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 85 feet and is 89 feet deep with a total lot size of 5,385 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is M1-5/R7-3 which allows for up to 5 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $640,000. The most recent loan totaled $6 million and was provided by Ponce Bank on March 21, 2023.

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 received $16,800 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

The neighborhood

In Long Island City, The bulk, or 32 percent of the 60.2 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 6th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $1.3 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 were four pre-foreclosure suit filed among other industrial buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of two of the five commercial properties representing 117,960 square feet of the 132,245 square feet. The two identified owners are Yong Chen and Rockrose Development.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 117,398 square feet. The largest is a 123-unit, 90,485 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Rockrose Development and filed by Justin Elghanayan with plans filed April 19, 2017 and permitted December 22, 2017. The second largest is a 39-unit, 26,913 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Weitao Shi and filed by Weitao Shi with plans filed July 10, 2023 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 86 percent of the 132,245 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with industrial buildings next occupying 11 percent of the space.

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