George Xu’s Century Development files plans for 98 units in Flushing

135-01 35th Avenue (Credit - Google)

George Xu, founder of Century Development Group submitted a new building construction plan for a 98-unit, 72,446 square-foot residential (R-2) building at 135-01 35th Avenue in Flushing, Queens. The plan was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings on January 4, 2023 under job number Q08048244. It calls for the construction of a nine-story building. The project is described in the filing as: new building. The architect is Raymond Chan Architect, PC.

The property

The existing mixed-use building in Flushing has 15,658 square feet of built space and 47,407 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 63,000 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The property is owned by Century Development Group. The parcel has frontage of 120 feet and is 125 feet deep with a total lot size of 15,750 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 $1.8 million. The most recent loan totaled $8 million and was provided by East West Bank on June 14, 2021.

Prior sales and revenue

This property was sold for $16 million on March 14, 2019.

The 15,658-square-foot property generated revenue of $293,045 or $19 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has received two DOB violations, $2,500 in ECB penalties, and $2,500 in OATH penalties in the last year.

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months.

The neighborhood

In Flushing, The bulk, or 45 percent of the 37.8 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 20 percent of the space. In sales, Flushing has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $626.7 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 4th highest in Queens. For development, Flushing has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 6th highest in Queens. It had 2.6 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 7 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of four of the 29 commercial properties representing 97,367 square feet of the 243,405 square feet. The largest owner is Century Development Group, followed by Ching Lam and then Joseph Vitulli Jr.. On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 75,509 square feet. The largest is a 98-unit, 72,446 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Century Development Group and filed by George Xu with plans filed January 4, 2023 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a 3,063 square-foot utility and miscellaneous (U) building submitted by Kyong Park with plans filed January 13, 2017 and it has not been permitted yet.

The owner

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Century Development Group owned at least 11 commercial properties with 241 residential units in New York City with 358,387 square feet and a city-determined market value of $43.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $281.4 million in debt, with top three lenders as Maxim Capital Group, Sovcombank, and Webster Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 52 percent of the 358,387 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with office properties next occupying 22 percent of the space. They are all located in Queens.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 135-01 35 Avenue, PincusCo identified one commercial real estate item of interests occurred over the past 24 months. It was a loan which United Construction & Development Group borrowed $88 million from Centennial Bank secured by the 304,804-square-foot, 134-unit rental (D6) on 134-03 35th Avenue on March 24, 2022.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.

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