Lions Group, Fetner sign $22.5M refi with Valley National for 363-unit LIC dev site

The Lions Group and Fetner Properties through the entity 2632 Property Owner LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender Valley National Bank valued at $22.5 million for the development site at 26-32 Jackson Avenue in Long Island City, Queens.

On this parcel there is one active new building construction project for a 363-unit, 364,819-square-foot residential (R-2) building. The project was filed by Albert Shirian of Lions Group with plans filed December 9, 2021 and it has not been permitted yet.
The deal closed on August 10, 2022 and was recorded on August 16, 2022. The prior lender was Valley National Bank which held debt that had an original loan amount of approximately $11 million. The property has 9,612 square feet of built space and 65,600 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 75,200 square feet according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per buildable square foot is $298 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 owner bought the property on September 9, 2015, for $8.5 million. The signatories for Lions Group and Fetner Properties were Ramin Shirian and Harold Fetner. The signatories for Valley National Bank were Jeff Puchin and Christopher Gregg.

Prior sales and revenue

The 9,612-square-foot property generated revenue of $175,149 or $18 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The 26-32 Jackson Avenue parcel has frontage of 100 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 10,000 square feet. The zoning is M1-5/R9 which allows for up to 5 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing and up to 7.52 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $830,000.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property since September of 2020. In addition, according to city public data, the property has not received any significant violations in the last year.

Development

On these lots, there is one active new building construction project for a 363-unit, 364,819-square-foot R-2 building. The project was filed by Albert Shirian of Lions Group with plans filed December 9, 2021 and it has not been permitted yet.

The neighborhood

In Long Island City, the bulk, or 34 percent of the 63.3 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with industrial buildings next occupying 32 percent of the space. In sales, Long Island City has the 7th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $1.8 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Long Island City is the 3rd most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 9.5 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 15 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There was one pre-foreclosure suit filed among other industrial buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of three of the four commercial properties representing 270,017 square feet of the 275,576 square feet. The largest owner is Rabsky Group, followed by Lions Group and then Fetner Properties.
There is one active new building construction project totaling 364,819 square feet. It is a 363-unit, 364,819-square-foot R-2 building developed by Albert Shirian with plans filed December 9, 2021 and it has not been permitted yet.

the majority, or 96 percent of the 270,017 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with industrial buildings next occupying 4 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Lions Group owned at least nine commercial properties in New York City with 297,301 square feet and a city-determined market value of $63.9 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $182.1 million in debt, borrowed from Greystone & Co. and Bank Leumi. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 94 percent of the 297,301 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with industrial properties next occupying 3 percent of the space. The bulk, or 86 percent of the built space, is in Queens, with Manhattan next at 12 percent of the space.
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Fetner Properties owned at least eight commercial properties in New York City with 638,489 square feet and a city-determined market value of $128.1 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $88.5 million in debt, borrowed from Wells Fargo. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 97 percent of the 638,489 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with industrial properties next occupying 2 percent of the space. The bulk, or 98 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Queens next at 2 percent of the space.

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