Meral Property Group pays $10M for 55-unit dev site in Astoria

Meral Property Group through the entity Tlg Astoria Blvd LLC paid $10 million to Thomas Anagnostopoulos and Antonios Dagounakis through the entity Ed 2003 Equities LLC for the mid-block development site (V1) at 21-03 to 21-09 Astoria Boulevard in Astoria, Queens.
On these lots, there is one active new building construction project under job number 421229735 for a 55-unit, 46,968 square-foot residential (R-2) building. The project was submitted by Antonios Dagounakis and filed by Antonios Dagounakis with plans filed November 10, 2015 and permitted December 29, 2015.
The sale closed on May 29, 2024 and was recorded on June 18, 2024. The three properties have zero square feet of built space and 47,447 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 47,447 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per buildable square foot is $210 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 Meral Property Group was Louis Lebovits. Meral Property Group and BridgeCity Capital share common ownership.

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 received $100 in OATH penalties in the last year.

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 2.1 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $581.4 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 3rd highest in Queens. For development, Astoria has 2.7 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 2nd highest in Queens. It had 3 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 7 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There was one pre-foreclosure suit filed among other development buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On the tax block of 21-03 Astoria Boulevard, PincusCo has identified the owners of three of the 32 commercial properties representing 15,249 square feet of the 358,654 square feet. The largest owner is Apostolos Banis, followed by Costas Galanis and then G&G Cangialosi.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 46,968 square feet. It is a 55-unit, 46,968 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Antonios Dagounakis and filed by Antonios Dagounakis with plans filed November 10, 2015 and permitted December 29, 2015.

The majority, or 44 percent of the 358,654 square feet of built space are specialty buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 22 percent of the space.

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