Mordechai Schwimmer pays $7.7M for dev site with 49-unit plans in Astoria

Mordechai Schwimmer through the entity Astoria 21 LLC paid $7.7 million to Vincent Sokolich through the entity V & I Sokolich LLC for the industrial building (G2) at 27-16A 21st Street in Astoria, Queens and the industrial building (G2) at 27-16 21st Street in Astoria, Queens.
The deal closed on June 21, 2022 and was recorded on June 30, 2022. The two properties have 5,440 square feet of built space and 28,222 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 33,675 square feet according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $1,415 and the price per buildable square foot is $228 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 Vincent Sokolich was Vincent Sokolich. The signatory for Mordechai Schwimmer was Mordechai Schwimmer.

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 27-16A 21st Street.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, Pincusco has no record that the buyer Mordechai Schwimmer had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Vincent Sokolich had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period. The two properties with a total of 5,440 square feet of built space generated revenue of $190,922 per year or $35 per square foot. The sale price per square foot was $1,415.

The property

The 27-16A 21st Street parcel has frontage of 50 feet and is 85 feet deep with a total lot size of 3,875 square feet. The zoning is R7X which allows for up to 5 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $552,000.

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 not received any significant violations in the last year.

Development

On these lots, there is one active new building construction project for a 49-unit, 40,100-square-foot R-2 building. The project was developed by Mordechai Schwimmer with plans filed March 28, 2022 and it has not been permitted yet.

The neighborhood

In Astoria, the bulk, or 27 percent of the 54.6 million square feet of commercial built space are residential walkup buildings, with residential elevator buildings next occupying 23 percent of the space. In sales, Astoria has 2.8 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $761.9 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 2nd highest in Queens. For development, Astoria has 3.5 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 4th highest in Queens. It had 3.2 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.

The block

On the tax block of 27-16A 21st Street, PincusCo has identified the owners of four of the 23 commercial properties representing 93,165 square feet of the 175,222 square feet. The two identified owners are Anela Radoncic and Bruce Loewy. There are two active new building construction projects totaling 88,736 square feet. The largest is a 36-unit, 48,636-square-foot R-2 building developed by Refik Radoncic with plans filed February 9, 2022 and it has not been permitted yet.The second largest is a 49-unit, 40,100-square-foot R-2 building developed by Mordechai Schwimmer with plans filed March 28, 2022 and it has not been permitted yet.

the majority, or 38 percent of the 193,626 square feet of built space are residential elevator buildings, with residential walkup buildings next occupying 21 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Mordechai Schwimmer owned at least four commercial properties with 37,598 square feet and a city-determined market value of $10 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $26.1 million in debt, borrowed from Bank Leumi and Bank of Princeton. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 56 percent of the 37,598 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 41 percent of the space. They are all located in Brooklyn.

Surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 27-16A 21st Street, PincusCo identified one commercial real estate item of interests occurred over the past 24 months.
It was a new building permit application filed on March 28, 2022 for a 33,786-square-foot R-2 building with 49 residential units at 27-16 21st Street.

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