Weitao Shi, Yong Chen pay $21M to RockFarmer for likely dev site in Ditmars Steinway

Weitao Shi and Yong Chen through the entity FBL Rowan LLC paid $21 million to RockFarmer Properties through the entity RFC 31 Street Ii LLC for the retail building (K1) at 21-13 31st Street in Ditmars Steinway, Queens, retail building (K1) at 21-01 31st Street in Ditmars Steinway, Queens, and retail building (K1) at 21-07 31st Street in Ditmars Steinway, Queens. The site is likely a development site considering the price per foot for the built space, according to a PincusCo analysis.
The deal closed on October 27, 2023 and was recorded on November 8, 2023. The four properties have 18,310 square feet of built space and 37,920 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 56,259 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $1,146 and the price per buildable square foot is $373 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 signatory for RockFarmer Properties was John C. Petras. The signatory for Weitao Shi and Yong Chen was Yong Chen. The contract date was November 15, 2022.

Because multiple properties have been transacted, some of the following sections will follow the property with the largest assessed value, which in this case, is the property on 21-13 31st Street.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Weitao Shi had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller RockFarmer Properties had not purchased any other properties and sold one property in one transaction for a total of $4.2 million over the same time period. Out of the four properties, three with a total of 18,310 square feet of built space generated revenue of $596,326 per year.

The property

The zoning is R6A which allows for up to 3 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.2 million. The most recent loan totaled $23.2 million and was provided by Bank Hapoalim on June 17, 2022.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the properties for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have received five DOB violations, $1,250 in ECB penalties, and $1,950 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

For the tax lot buildings, one out of the four buildings received a initial certificate of occupancy in the last ten years. There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $1 million on this tax lot.

The neighborhood

In Ditmars Steinway, The bulk, or 41 percent of the 11.1 million square feet of commercial built space are walkup buildings, with industrial buildings next occupying 25 percent of the space. In sales, Ditmars Steinway has had very little sales volume relative to other neighborhoods with $101.8 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Ditmars Steinway has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 7th highest in Queens. It had 984,661 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 9 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On the tax block of 21-13 31st Street, PincusCo has identified the owners of nine of the 23 commercial properties representing 84,344 square feet of the 148,198 square feet. The largest owner is Theodoros Spyronassis, followed by Sol Goldman Investments and then Rockfarmer Properties.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 57,595 square feet. It is a 46-unit, 57,595 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by John Petras with plans filed March 3, 2017 and permitted December 4, 2018.

The majority, or 33 percent of the 148,198 square feet of built space are mixed-use buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 28 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Rockfarmer Properties owned at least nine commercial properties with 96 residential units in New York City with 191,181 square feet and a city-determined market value of $11.1 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 51 percent of the 191,181 square feet of built space are D6 properties, with walkup properties next occupying 29 percent of the space. They are all located in Queens.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Yong Chen owned at least two commercial properties with 51 residential units in New York City with 4,405 square feet and a city-determined market value of $1.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $18.8 million in debt, borrowed from S3 Capital. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 100 percent of the 4,405 square feet of built space are industrial properties, with development properties next occupying 0 percent of the space. They are all located in Queens.
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Weitao Shi owned at least one commercial property in New York City with 4,405 square feet and a city-determined market value of $640,000. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio consists of at least a single industrial property. It is located in Queens.

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