VAJA Group signs $43.1M construction loan with Popular Bank for 52-unit project in Jamaica

VAJA Group through the entity Vaja Jamaica Building B LLC as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender Popular Bank valued at $43.1 million for the industrial building (G7) at 89-25 162nd Street in Jamaica, Queens.

On the lot, there is one active new building construction project, Q00721898, for a 52-unit, 50,122 square-foot R-2 building. The project was submitted by Windfall Group and filed by Eddie Ni with plans filed April 21, 2022 and permitted November 5, 2025.
The deal closed on November 18, 2025 and was recorded on November 24, 2025. The prior lender was Popular Bank which held debt that had an original loan amount of $5 million.The property has zero square feet of built space and 71,385 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 71,385 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per buildable square foot is $604 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 owner bought the property on June 4, 2018, for $5 million. The signatory for VAJA Group was Chaim Wiesenfeld . This is $38 million in construction debt on top of $5 million of existing debt.

The property

The parcel has frontage of 112 feet and is 127 feet deep with a total lot size of 14,277 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. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $798,000.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the property has not received any significant violations in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Jamaica, The bulk, or 34 percent of the 29.2 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 14 percent of the space. In sales, Jamaica has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $256.4 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 11th highest in Queens. For development, Jamaica has 1.6 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 4th highest in Queens. It had 2.4 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 this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of seven of the 16 commercial properties representing 323,867 square feet of the 543,415 square feet. The largest owner is Jackson Group, followed by Maor Rosilio and then New York City Housing Authority.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 111,537 square feet. The largest is a 89-unit, 61,415 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Emeric Weinstock and filed by Ami Weinstock with plans filed January 16, 2025 and permitted June 25, 2025. The second largest is a 52-unit, 50,122 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Windfall Group and filed by Eddie Ni with plans filed April 21, 2022 and permitted June 2, 2022.

The majority, or 32 percent of the 543,415 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with industrial buildings next occupying 29 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Vaja Group owned at least 31 commercial properties with 621 residential units in New York City with 227,780 square feet and a city-determined market value of $27.6 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $150.6 million in debt, with top three lenders as Popular Bank, NorthEast Community Bank, and Northeast Community Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 27 percent of the 227,780 square feet of built space are industrial properties, with walkup properties next occupying 17 percent of the space. The bulk, or 79 percent of the built space, is in Bronx, with Queens next at 21 percent of the space.

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