Hakimian Organization, CW Realty pay $15.8M for dev site in Astoria

Hakimian Organization in a joint venture with Cheskie Weisz’s CW Realty Group through the entity 42-08 35th Owner LLC paid $15.8 million to Lewis Miller through the entity Queensboro Farm Products, Inc. for the industrial building (G1) at 35-17 42nd Street in Astoria, Queens and industrial building (G8) at 42-08 35th Avenue in Astoria, Queens. The expected use is ground up development.

The deal closed on January 16, 2024 and was recorded on January 27, 2025. The two properties have 19,000 square feet of built space and 116,000 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 135,000 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data, but with the City of Yes, the parcel has 162,000 buildable, according to sources. The sale price per built square foot is $831 and the price per buildable square foot is $117 per the PincusCo analysis, and the price per buildable with City of Yes figures is $98 per foot. (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 signatory for Lewis Miller was Lewis Miller. The signatory for Hakimian Organization was Rex Hakimian. The contract date was January 17, 2024.

Because multiple properties have been transacted, some of the following sections will follow the property with the largest assessed value, which in this case, is the property on 42-08 35th Avenue.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Hakimian Organization had purchased any other properties and sold one property in one transaction for a total of $30 million over the past 24 months.
The seller Lewis Miller had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period.

The property

The industrial building in Astoria has 19,000 square feet of built space and 116,000 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 135,000 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 90 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 9,000 square feet. The zoning is M1-4/R7X which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing and up to 5 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.1 million.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the properties for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have not received any significant violations 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 neighborhood

In Astoria, The bulk, or 36 percent of the 40.2 million square feet of commercial built space are walkup buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 31 percent of the space. In sales, Astoria has 2.2 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $582.7 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 3rd highest in Queens. For development, Astoria has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 7th highest in Queens. It had 1.2 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 3 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On the tax block of 42-08 35th Avenue, PincusCo has identified the owners of three of the seven commercial properties representing 43,300 square feet of the 64,976 square feet. The two identified owners are Premier Equities and Hakimian Organization.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 56 percent of the 64,976 square feet of built space are industrial buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 44 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Hakimian Organization owned at least 15 commercial properties with 957 residential units in New York City with 1,108,886 square feet and a city-determined market value of $396.4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $517.1 million in debt, with top three lenders as Apollo Global Management, Apple Bank for Savings, and Cain International respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 49 percent of the 1,108,886 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with office properties next occupying 48 percent of the space. The bulk, or 87 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Queens next at 13 percent of the space.

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