Joel Shafran signs $14M refi with Popular Bank for four properties in Ditmars Steinway

Joel Shafran through the entity Westway Associates LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender Popular Bank through the entity Banco Popular North America valued at $14 million for four properties including the hotel building at 71-11 Astoria Boulevard North in Ditmars Steinway, Queens, hotel building at 72-05 Astoria Boulevard N in Ditmars Steinway, Queens, and midblock industrial building at 71-10 Ditmars Boulevard in Ditmars Steinway, Queens.
The deal closed on April 29, 2022 and was recorded on May 16, 2022. The prior lender was Popular Bank which held debt that had an original loan amount of $13 million. The four properties have 51,360 square feet of built space and 9,000 square feet of additional air rights according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $272 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 Joel Shafran was Joel Shafran. The signatory for Popular Bank was Joseph A. Farrauto.

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 71-11 Astoria Boulevard N.

Prior sales and revenue

The owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Asher Shafran, head officer and Steven Berger, officer. The business entity is Women In Need.

The property

The 71-11 Astoria Boulevard N parcel has frontage of 168 feet and is 208 feet deep with a total lot size of 32,602 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R4 which allows for up to 0.75 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $8.4 million.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the properties since September of 2020. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have received $700 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 $5 million on this tax lot.

The neighborhood

In Ditmars Steinway, the bulk, or 50 percent of the 23.2 million square feet of commercial built space are 1-4 family buildings, with residential walkup buildings next occupying 20 percent of the space. In sales, Ditmars Steinway has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $237.3 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 5th highest in Queens. For development, Ditmars Steinway has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 9th highest in Queens. It had 894,447 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 4 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 89 percent of the 42,775 square feet of built space are hotel buildings, with 1-4 family buildings next occupying 6 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Joel Shafran owned at least three commercial properties with 187,583 square feet and a city-determined market value of $30.9 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $35.5 million in debt, borrowed from TriState Capital Bank and Popular Bank. Within the portfolio, all identified are hotel properties. The bulk, or 54 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 23 percent of the space.

Surrounding

PincusCo has not identified any commercial real estate items of interest within a 400-foot radius of 71-11 Astoria Boulevard N that occurred over the past 24 months.

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