MK Improvement Group files plans for 5 net new units in Astoria

MK Improvement Group submitted a major alteration application for the redevelopment of three-unit, 3,515-square-foot residential building at 27-18 Newtown Avenue in Astoria, Queens, to a 40-foot-tall, four-story with eight dwelling units.  The plan was filed on April 8, 2026, with the New York City Department of Buildings under job number Q01364944. The project is described in the filing as: proposed horizontal and vertical enlargement to an existing 3-story masonry building. The applicant is the Professional Engineer Fnu Luqman of Diagrid Consultants.

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 near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $836.8 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 2nd highest in Queens. For development, Astoria has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 5th highest in Queens. It had 2.3 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 17 pre-foreclosure suit filed among other development buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of four of the 11 commercial properties representing 44,286 square feet of the 153,420 square feet. The largest owner is Georgios Petsiavas, followed by Javesti Investing and then John Gupta.
On the tax block, there were four new building construction projects totaling 48,588 square feet. The largest is a 20-unit, 15,580 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Ralph Alfano with plans filed September 12, 2017 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a 16-unit, 15,499 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Ralph Alfano with plans filed April 21, 2016 and it has not been permitted yet.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 27-18 NEWTOWN AVENUE, PincusCo identified two commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months.
Of those two items, two were sales above $5 million totaling $14 million. The most recent of the two was Stylianos Aniftos which bought the zero-square-foot industrial (G7) on 26-34 28th Street and two other properties for $8.5 million from Sungmin Ahn on April 29, 2025.

Direct link to the property ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.