Slate Property Group in contract to pay $10.25M in Astoria, development homeless housing

Slate Property Group signed a contract June 4, 2024 to pay $10.25 million to the Roman Catholic Church of St. Margaret Mary for the parish center church building at 9-16 27th Avenue and a vacant lot at 9-14 27th Avenue in Astoria, Queens, according to a petition filed yesterday seeking court approval for the sale of religious or nonprofit assets. The expected use is ground up development of transitional homeless housing, through a contract with the city’s Department of Homeless Services.
Petition LINK
Slate earlier this month signed a $209.8 million loan with JPMorgan Chase for homeless-related buildings.

According to the petition, the sale property is, “The existing buildings located on the Land, including the (i) former parish center/church building and (ii) one story brick storage room, located on Parcel I (collectively, the “Building”), including all fixtures, equipment, systems and improvements owned by Seller located in or used in connection with the Building (collectively, the “Improvements”). Parcel II consists of a vacant yard…The sale of the Property is subject to, and contingent upon, Purchaser’s receipt of a registered contract (the “Contract”) for the operation of a transitional housing development (the “Transitional Housing Development”) from the New York City Department of Homeless Services…The purchase and sale of the Property shall close thirty (30) days from Purchaser’s receipt of the Contract from DHS.” The DHS contract is expected before September 4, 2025, the purchase and sale contract implies.
The sale was brokered by Bridge Property Advisors, the contract says.

The property

The property in Astoria has 23,000 square feet of built space and 25,559 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 48,598 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has two buildings with frontage of 100 feet and is 300 feet deep with a total lot size of 35,999 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R5B which allows for up to 1.35 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $9.9 million.

Development

Over the past five years, there has been no NYC Department of Buildings new building, demolition, or alteration permit application valued at more than $20,000 filed for this parcel.

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 for the past 24 months.

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 near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $637.9 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 3rd highest in Queens. For development, Astoria has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 2nd highest in Queens. It had 2.9 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 7 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The surrounding

This is the first commercial real estate event of interest identified within the 400-foot radius of 9-18 27 Avenue in the past 24 months.

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