FBL Development signs $25M construction loan with Ponce Bank for 52-unit development in Astoria

FBL Development through the entity FBL Astoria LLC as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender Ponce Bank valued at $25 million for the 52-unit development at 31-16 21st Street in Astoria, Queens.

On the lot, there is one active new building construction project for a 52-unit, 35,469 square-foot R-2 building. The project was developed by Yong Chen with plans filed October 27, 2022 and it has not been permitted yet.
The deal closed on February 3, 2023 and was recorded on February 17, 2023. The prior lender was S3 Capital which held debt that had an original loan amount of $6.3 million.

The property has zero square feet of built space and 40,532 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 40,532 square feet according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per buildable square foot is $616 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 June 8, 2022, for $10.3 million. The signatory for FBL Development was Weitao Shi and Yong Chen. The signatory for Ponce Bank was Steven A. Tsavaris.

The property

The 31-16 21st Street parcel has frontage of 104 feet and is 102 feet deep with a total lot size of 10,133 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R7A which allows for up to 4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.1 million.The most recent loan totaled $6.3 million and was provided by S3 Capital on June 8, 2022.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property since September of 2020. In addition, according to city public data, the property has not received any significant violations in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Astoria, the bulk, or 36 percent of the 40.1 million square feet of commercial built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 31 percent of the space. In sales, Astoria has 3.1 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $1.1 billion in sales volume in the last two years and is the 2nd highest in Queens. For development, Astoria has 3.2 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 4th highest in Queens. It had 3.2 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 8 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of five of the 21 commercial properties representing 50,786 square feet of the 122,169 square feet. The largest owner is Paul Zelazowski, followed by Ke An Chen and then Bhoj Lochan.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 53,066 square feet. The largest is a 52-unit, 35,469-square-foot R-2 building developed by Yong Chen with plans filed October 27, 2022 and it has not been permitted yet.The second largest is a 24-unit, 17,597-square-foot R-2 building developed by Ke An Chen with plans filed December 6, 2019 and permitted June 25, 2021.

the majority, or 44 percent of the 122,169 square feet of built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 43 percent of the space.

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