Papadakis, Ioannou pay $5.3M for 35-unit dev site in Astoria

Gus Papadakis and Constantinos Ioannou through the entity 653 Henderson LLC paid $5.3 million to Lawrence Cerullo through the entity 42-18 Development LLC for the four-parcel development site composed of the retail building (K2) at 42-18 31st Avenue, retail building (K2) at 31-08 43rd Street, and two-unit 1-4 family building (B2) at 31-04 43rd Street in Astoria, Queens. The expected use is ground up development.

Pinnacle Realty of New York agents David Junik, Decio Baio and George Margaronis, were the brokers on the deal and were marketing the property with plans through an approved rezoning, for a 38,189 square foot, 35-unit apartment building.

The deal closed on January 29, 2025 and was recorded on February 4, 2025. The four properties have 11,023 square feet of built space and 38,189 square feet total buildable, according to marketing material. The sale price per built square foot is $480 and the price per buildable square foot is $139 per the PincusCo analysis.

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 42-18 31st Avenue.

Prior sales and revenue

Out of the four properties, three with a total of 11,023 square feet of built space generated revenue of $654,013 per year.

The property

The retail building in Astoria has 11,023 square feet of built space and 22,390 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 32,220 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 128 feet and is 37 feet deep with a total lot size of 3,500 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R6A which allows for up to 3 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.8 million.

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 three DOB violations, $1,965 in ECB penalties, and $7,515 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

For the tax lot buildings, one out of the four buildings received a initial certificate of occupancy in the last ten years. There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $1 million on this tax lot.

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 2.2 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $594.9 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 3rd highest in Queens. For development, Astoria has 1.2 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 7th highest in Queens. It had 1.3 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 3 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On the tax block of 42-18 31st Avenue, PincusCo has identified the owners of four of the 17 commercial properties representing 31,223 square feet of the 71,496 square feet. The largest owner is Constantine Papamichael, followed by Frances Ann Baglio As Trustee and then Daljeet Singh Sidhu.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 44 percent of the 71,496 square feet of built space are mixed-use buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 40 percent of the space.

Direct link to Acris document. link