Ridwan Kabir plans 72-unit project in Jamaica

Ridwan Kabir submitted a new building construction project for a 72-unit, 94,328 square-foot residential (R-2) building at 87-79 Merrick Boulevard in Jamaica, Queens. The plan was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings on October 14, 2022 under job number Q08015127. It calls for the construction of a 11-story building. The project is described in the filing as: Proposed one new eleven (11) story mixed use building with eighty (80) dwelling units, commercial at the cellar, ground, and third floor levels, and parking at the ground and second floor levels.

The building is planned for tax parcels 53, 54 and 56, but the filing only notes lot 53 and the city’s property records do not yet reflect a zoning lot merger. Kabir bought the parcels for $9.7 million in October 2021.

The property

The 87-79 Merrick Boulevard parcel has frontage of 249 feet with a total lot size of 18,863 square feet. The zoning is C4-5X which allows for up to 4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 5 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing.

Prior sales and revenue

The property is owned by Ridwan Kabir.

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 since September of 2020.

The neighborhood

In Jamaica, the bulk, or 29 percent of the 27.3 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 15 percent of the space. In sales, Jamaica has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $309.9 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 5th highest in Queens. For development, Jamaica has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 3rd 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 12 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of four of the 10 commercial properties representing 38,597 square feet of the 76,681 square feet. The two identified owners are Zara Realty Holding and Ridwan Kabir. On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 107,681 square feet. The largest is a 72-unit, 94,328 square-foot R-2 building developed by Ridwan Kabir with plans filed October 14, 2022 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a 13,353 square-foot B building developed by Jacob Yuval with plans filed April 10, 2015 and permitted November 29, 2019.

The owner

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Ridwan Kabir owned at least three commercial properties in New York City with 1,829 square feet and a city-determined market value of $1.1 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, all identified are industrial properties. They are all located in Queens.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 87-79 Merrick Boulevard, PincusCo identified five commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those five items, two were in new building development. There were two new building permit applications. The most recent of these two items was a filing on March 7, 2022 for a 155,857-square-foot E building at 165-15 88th Avenue. Of those five items, one was for major renovation including a certificate of occupancy change. It was a permit issued on June 2, 2021 for the $304,000 renovation of 2,602-square-foot B building with zero residential units at 165-23 Hillside Avenue. One of those five items was a sale which NYC School Construction Authority bought the 22,100-square-foot industrial (G7) on 165-16 Hillside Avenue and two other properties for $24 million from Bernard F. Dowd Inc. on January 24, 2022. One of those five items was a loan which Zara Realty Holding borrowed $54 million from Northern Trust Company secured by the 99,344-square-foot, 136-unit rental (D3) on 166-33 89th Avenue and one other property on December 24, 2020.

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