Mormon Church in contract to sell Far Rockaway dev site for $8M

The Mormon Church, also known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, signed a contract to sell a Rockaway development site at 3229 Far Rockaway Boulevard, in Far Rockaway, Queens, for $8 million.
The buyer, Walton Realty NY LLC, is located in Williamsburg with an address often used by Herman Jacobowitz. An email to Herman Jacobowitz was not immediately returned.
The sale was approved this month by the New York State Attorney General as part of a required process when nonprofits and churches sell substantial assets.
Mormon Church $8M sale Far Rockaway pdf

According to the filing, the church, “purchased the Property in 2002 for possible use as a meetinghouse, but it was never improved or used by Petitioner. Petitioner has determined that the Property is no longer needed.”

In 2019, John Bezzant of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints submitted a new building construction project for a 6,022 square-foot assembly (A-3) building at 3229 Far Rockaway Blvd in Far Rockaway, Queens. The plan was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings on October 22, 2019 under job number 420666390. It called for the construction of a one-story building. The project is described in the filing as: new building application for church. But that project never was developed.

The property

The parcel has frontage of 259 feet and is 225 feet deep with a total lot size of 44,299 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R6 which allows for up to 2.43 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $2.8 million.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has not received any significant violations in the last year.

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months.

The neighborhood

In Far Rockaway, The majority, or 65 percent of the 12.8 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 18 percent of the space. In sales, Far Rockaway has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $61.6 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 25th highest in Queens. For development, Far Rockaway has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 3rd highest in Queens. It had 1.7 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 13 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, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 6,022 square feet. It is a 6,022 square-foot assembly (A-3) building submitted by John Bezzant with plans filed October 22, 2019 and it has not been permitted yet.

The surrounding

This is the first commercial real estate event of interest identified within the 400-foot radius of 32-29 Far Rockaway Boulevard in the past 24 months.

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