Pistilli Realty signs $157.7M cross-collateralization with Flagstar for 17 properties in NYC

Pistilli Realty through the entity 228 West 4th Owners Corp. (and others) as borrower signed a cross-collateralization agreement with lender Flagstar Bank valued at $157.7 million for 17 properties with 925 residential units including the 233-unit residential elevator building (D3) at 47-30 59th Street in Woodside, Queens, 126-unit residential elevator building (D1) at 140-59 Ash Avenue in Flushing, Queens, and 96-unit residential elevator building (D7) at 26-80 30th Street in Astoria, Queens.
The deal closed on April 25, 2023 and was recorded on March 29, 2024. The 17 properties have 981,161 square feet of built space and 48,903 square feet of additional air rights according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $160 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 Pistilli Realty was Anthony Pistilli. The signatory for Flagstar Bank was John Feijoo. This is not a refinance, it is a cross-collateralization agreement executed nearly a year ago but only recorded now. According to the cross-collateralization agreement, “Whereby a default under the terms of any Mortgage recited in Schedule B made by the respective borrowers to the Lender, shall constitute a default of all the Mortgages recited in Schedule B.”

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 31-21 Newtown Avenue.

The property

The office building in Astoria has frontage of 51 feet and is 135 feet deep with a total lot size of 12,573 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is C4-4A which allows for up to 4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 4 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $23.9 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 20 DOB violations, $39,150 in ECB penalties, 246 housing violations, one housing violation, $68,080 in OATH penalties, and three housing litigations in the last year.

Development

For the tax lot buildings, one out of the 17 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 2.6 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $745.2 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 3rd highest in Queens. For development, Astoria has 2.8 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 2nd highest in Queens. It had 3.1 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 8 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On the tax block of 31-21 Newtown Avenue, PincusCo has identified the owners of eight of the 18 commercial properties representing 171,580 square feet of the 254,586 square feet. The largest owner is Tonino Sacco, followed by Pistilli Realty Group and then Paul Pappas.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 19,622 square feet. The largest is a 20-unit, 13,768 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Vito Vaccaro with plans filed May 23, 2013 and permitted February 8, 2017. The second largest is a five-unit, 5,854 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Christopher Fillas with plans filed May 24, 2022 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 39 percent of the 254,586 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with office buildings next occupying 33 percent of the space.

Direct link to Acris document. link