Shorewood ups Jackson Heights resi with grocery project to 164 units

Shorewood Real Estate Group increased the number of residential units it is planning at 34-20 Junction Boulevard, a parcel in Jackson Heights that grocer Spencer An of Food Bazaar Supermarkets bought for $21 million from LeFrak in February 2020. The original Department of Buildings plan indicated a project with 125 units, but a new application filed with the City Planning Commission seeks to build 164 units and include a 29,413-square-foot Food Bazaar grocery store.

According to the plans, “This application is submitted by 34-20 Junction DM LLC [Shorewood], in cooperation with BG Junction Realty, LLC, the owner of the Development Site and an affiliate of Food Bazaar supermarket… The Applicant intends to construct a seven-story mixed-use residential and commercial building containing a total of 158,091 square feet of floor area (the “Proposed Development”), equivalent to a 3.43 FAR. The Proposed Development will contain approximately 164 dwelling units and a 29,413.3 square foot FRESH food store on the ground floor.

“The total residential floor area will be 127,654.2 square feet on floors two through seven, and the total commercial floor area will be 30,436.9 square feet. The Proposed Development will rise to a maximum building height of 74.85 feet. The FRESH food store will be located entirely within the C1-4 portion of the Development Site… The seventh floor of the Proposed Development will contain residential amenity space, including a general lounge, work lounge, party lounge, screening room, conference room, and phone booths. The seventh floor will not contain dwelling units.”

Development

Shorewood Real Estate Group submitted a new building construction project for a 125-unit, 129,294 square-foot residential (R-2) building at 34-20 Junction Boulevard. The plan was filed on June 4, 2021. It calls for the construction of a 65-foot tall, six-story building and was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings under job number Q00528155. The architect is Dattner Architects. The project is described in the filing as: proposed new 6 story plus cellar & roof mixed-used building.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has received $1,350 in OATH penalties in the last year.

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

The neighborhood

In Jackson Heights, The bulk, or 42 percent of the 16.3 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 19 percent of the space. In sales, Jackson Heights has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $175.3 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 11th highest in Queens. For development, Jackson Heights has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 15th highest in Queens. It had 459,622 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 this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of nine of the 10 commercial properties representing 354,502 square feet of the 396,214 square feet. The largest owner is Bronstein Properties, followed by Pinnacle Group and then Spencer An. On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 129,294 square feet. It is a 125-unit, 129,294 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Shorewood Real Estate Group and filed by Shorewood with plans filed June 4, 2021 and permitted December 22, 2021.

The owner

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Spencer An owned at least 19 commercial properties in New York City with 388,996 square feet and a city-determined market value of $53.5 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $165.7 million in debt, borrowed from JPMorgan Chase and Centennial Bank. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 58 percent of the 388,996 square feet of built space are retail properties, with industrial properties next occupying 24 percent of the space. The bulk, or 51 percent of the built space, is in Queens, with Brooklyn next at 38 percent of the space.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 34-20 Junction Boulevard, PincusCo identified one commercial real estate item of interests occurred over the past 24 months. It was a loan which Chaim Schweid borrowed $6.5 million from JPMorgan Chase secured by the 78,088-square-foot, 104-unit rental (C1) on 34-15 94th Street on June 24, 2021.

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