Shelter Inc. files plans for 46-unit building in Rockaway Park

Matthew Safos, owner of Shelter Inc. submitted a new building construction project for a 46-unit, 31,793-square-foot R-2 building at 169 Beach 115th Street in Rockaway Park, Queens. The plan was filed on September 13, 2022. It calls for the construction of a 70-foot-tall, seven-story building and was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings under job number Q00755770. The architect is T.F. Cusanelli & Filletti Arch. The project is described in the filing as: proposed multi-family building, total of 46 dwelling units.

A similar building plan, also with 76 units, was submitted in 2019, but was disapproved in October 2021.

The building will have five units on the ground floor, and seven units on each of floors two through seven. There is no commercial space in the building.

The 169 Beach 115 Street parcel has frontage of 80 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 8,000 square feet. The zoning is R7A which allows for up to 4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $474,000.

The development building in Rockaway Park has zero square feet of built space and 32,000 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 32,000 square feet according to PincusCo analysis of city data.

According to city public data, the property has received $600 in OATH penalties in the last year.

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property since September of 2020.

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of five of the 19 commercial properties representing 3,900 square feet of the 115,189 square feet. The two identified owners are Marcal Group and Jack Safos. On the tax block, there were four new building construction projects totaling 279,077 square feet. The largest is a 114-unit, 130,955-square-foot R-2 building developed by Beach 116 Promenade Llc with plans filed March 1, 2022 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a 76-unit, 84,565-square-foot R-2 building developed by Abraham Caller with plans filed April 26, 2022 and it has not been permitted yet.

Within a 400-foot radius of 169 Beach 115 Street, Pincusco identified three commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those three 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 April 26, 2022 for a 100,486-square-foot R-2 building with 76 residential units at 155 Beach 115th Street. One of those three items was a loan which Marcal Group borrowed $8.4 million from Israel Discount Bank secured by the 0-square-foot development site (V0) on BEACH 115th Street and three other properties on October 8, 2021.

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