Lender Lightstone Group acquires AB Capstone buildings in Astoria with $27.2M transfer value

Lightstone Group, a former lender on the property, through the entity Cre 45-01 Northern Blvd Holdco LLC acquired from AB Capstone through the entity 45-01 Northern LLC in an entity level transfer valued at $27.2 million, the industrial building (G8) at 45-01 Northern Boulevard in Astoria, Queens and industrial building (F9) at 34-08 46th Street in Astoria, Queens.
The deal closed on March 13, 2026 and was recorded on March 18, 2026. The two properties have 54,180 square feet of built space and 3,240 square feet of additional air rights according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $501 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.)
Lightstone Group was a lender on this renovation project. An investor sued AB Capstone principals over the deal, through index number 652701/2024, which is a case that remains “active.”

A Colliers International team was marketing the properties in advance of a UCC auction scheduled in February 2026, reporting the properties were fully renovated in 2023, and the second floor of the 45-01 Northern Boulevard has a new 10-year lease. In addition it has more than $2.6 million in ICIP/ICAP tax savings between 2025 and 2050.

Prior sales, articles and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Lightstone Group had purchased any other properties and sold four properties in three transactions for a total of $91.7 million over the past 24 months.
The seller AB Capstone had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period. The two properties with a total of 54,180 square feet of built space generated revenue of $1.7 million per year or $32 per square foot. The sale price per square foot was $502.

The property

The industrial building in Astoria has 54,180 square feet of built space and 3,240 square feet of additional air rights according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 238 feet and is 179 feet deep with a total lot size of 22,997 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is M1-1 which allows for up to 1 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $9.2 million.

Violations and lawsuits

The properties were involved in one lawsuit and zero bankruptcies over the past two years. The suit was a $3 million money judgment concerning a construction filed on May 29, 2024, against AB Capstone. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have received one DOB violation, $3,125 in ECB penalties, one housing violation, and $3,225 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 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 2.5 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $821.7 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 2nd highest in Queens. For development, Astoria has 1.5 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 5th highest in Queens. It had 2.4 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 6 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There were 62 pre-foreclosure suit filed among other industrial buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On the tax block of 45-01 Northern Boulevard, PincusCo has identified the owners of two of the seven commercial properties representing 54,180 square feet of the 72,680 square feet. The identified owner is Ab Capstone.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 87 percent of the 72,680 square feet of built space are industrial buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 13 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Ab Capstone owned at least 10 commercial properties with 20 residential units in New York City with 433,526 square feet and a city-determined market value of $71 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 34 percent of the 433,526 square feet of built space are specialty properties, with retail properties next occupying 22 percent of the space. The bulk, or 61 percent of the built space, is in Queens, with Bronx next at 39 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Lightstone Group owned at least 34 commercial properties with 1,938 residential units in New York City with 2,338,149 square feet and a city-determined market value of $325.9 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $2.1 billion in debt, with top three lenders as Reznik Paz Nevo Trusts, JLL, and Goldman Sachs respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 74 percent of the 2,338,149 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with hotel properties next occupying 21 percent of the space. The bulk, or 45 percent of the built space, is in Bronx, with Manhattan next at 28 percent of the space.

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