Iris Holdings pays $14.4M to LeFrak for Rego Park rental, second sale in 753-unit portfolio

Iris Holdings Group through the entity State Preservation Housing Development Fund Corp paid $14.4 million to LeFrak through the entity Tennessee Leasing Limited Partnership for the 98-unit residential elevator building (D1) at 65-44 Saunders Street in Rego Park, Queens. The expected use is cash flowing.
This is the second sale of the 753-unit portfolio to be recorded. The first was for 63-60 98th Street.
The deal closed on October 31, 2025 and was recorded on November 10, 2025. The property has 104,778 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $137 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 signatory for LeFrak was Arnold S. Lehman . The signatory for Iris Holdings Group was Chayim Kirschenbaum . The contract date was April 24, 2025.

According to a document of a City Council resolution approving a partial article XI tax exemption for this and related properties, “Of the 753 residential units, there are 99 studios, 336 one bedrooms (one of which is reserved for the super), 316 two-bedrooms (three of which are reserved for the supers), and two three-bedrooms. Of the 753 units, 82 are currently vacant… The buildings were constructed between 1941 and1962 by Lefrak Corporation.”

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Iris Holdings Group purchased four properties in four transactions for a total of $71.5 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller LeFrak had not purchased any other properties and sold 13 properties in six transactions for a total of $114.4 million over the same time period. The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes David Bernhardt, head officer and Margaret Broda, officer. The business entities are Estates Ny Real Estate Services Llc and Tennessee Leasing Lp. The 104,778-square-foot property generated revenue of $2.4 million or $23 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The residential elevator building with 98 residential units in Rego Park has 104,778 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 260 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 26,000 square feet. The zoning is R7-1 which allows for up to 3.44 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $10.3 million. The property has 90 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 77 housing violations and one housing litigation 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 four of the six commercial properties representing 209,562 square feet of the 271,572 square feet. The largest owner is Lefrak, followed by Victor Gjonaj and then Apostolos Anagnostopoulos.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 100 percent of the 271,572 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with development buildings next occupying 0 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Lefrak owned at least 58 commercial properties with 9,533 residential units in New York City with 10,716,218 square feet and a city-determined market value of $1.6 billion. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 89 percent of the 10,716,218 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with office properties next occupying 10 percent of the space. The bulk, or 61 percent of the built space, is in Queens, with Manhattan next at 33 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Iris Holdings Group owned at least 21 commercial properties with 1,177 residential units in New York City with 1,111,592 square feet and a city-determined market value of $84.6 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $219.2 million in debt, with top three lenders as MF1 Capital, National Equity Fund, and KeyBank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 58 percent of the 1,111,592 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 42 percent of the space. The bulk, or 63 percent of the built space, is in Queens, with Brooklyn next at 37 percent of the space.

Direct link to Acris document. link