Forest Properties signs $26.3M refi with Lument for 117-unit rental in Astoria

Forest Properties through the entity Exo Astoria, LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender Lument through the entity Lument Real Estate Capital, LLC valued at $26.3 million for the 117-unit residential elevator building (D1) at 26-38 21st Street in Astoria, Queens.
The deal closed on May 23, 2025 and was recorded on June 4, 2025. The prior lender was Capital One which held debt that had an original loan amount of $35.5 million.The property has 127,338 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $206 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 December 13, 2013, for $47.2 million. The signatory for Forest Properties was Daniel Sterner . The signatory for Lument was Polina Tsaliev .

Prior sales and revenue

The owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Anderson Libert, head officer and Jeffrey Libert, officer. The business entities are Forest Properties Management and Exo Fpm Llc. The 127,338-square-foot property generated revenue of $4.5 million or $36 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The residential elevator building with 117 residential units in Astoria has 127,338 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 74 feet and is 241 feet deep with a total lot size of 16,729 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R7X which allows for up to 5 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The property has a 421A exemption that started in 2012 and expires in 2027. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $21 million. The property has 117 rent regulated units according to city tax records from 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 three DOB violations, $2,500 in ECB penalties, and $2,800 in OATH penalties 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 block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of three of the 18 commercial properties representing 21,042 square feet of the 197,366 square feet. The largest owner is Justin Chernoff, followed by Bin Huang and then Gress.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 4,493 square feet. It is a two-unit, 4,493 square-foot residential (R-3) building submitted by Khair Ahmed with plans filed September 29, 2017 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 73 percent of the 197,366 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 18 percent of the space.

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