Westhab pays $13.2M to Slate Property Group for dev site in Rego Park

Affordable developer Westhab through the entity 92-54 QB Housing Development Fund Corporation paid $13.2 million to Slate Property Group through the entity 92-54 Propco LLC for development site (V1) at 92-54 Queens Boulevard in Rego Park, Queens.
The deal closed on August 3, 2022 and was recorded on August 12, 2022. The property has zero square feet of built space and 42,277 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 42,277 square feet according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $N/A and the price per buildable square foot is $311 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 seller bought the property on November 3, 2021, for $13.1 million. The signatory for Slate Property Group was Martin Nussbaum. The signatory for Westhab was Richard Nightingale. Westhab also signed a 60-year restrictive declaration that identifies this as a homeless shelter to serve approximately 88 clients. Slate filed plans in 2021 for a 26-unit building.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, Pincusco has records that the buyer Westhab purchased one property in one transaction for a total of $15.9 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Slate Property Group purchased 12 properties in 11 transactions for a total of $384.7 million and sold three properties in three transactions for a total of $103.8 million over the same time period.

The property

The 92-54 Queens Boulevard parcel has frontage of 121 feet and is 98 feet deep with a total lot size of 12,290 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R7-1 which allows for up to 3.44 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.5 million. The most recent loan totaled $7.8 million and was provided by Citibank on November 1, 2021.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property since September of 2020. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $530 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

On these lots, there are two active new building construction projects and major alteration projects with initial costs more than $5 million, totaling 90,775 square feet. The largest is a new building project for a 26-unit, 63,986-square-foot R-2 building developed by Slate Property Group through David Schwartz with plans filed November 8, 2021 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a new building project for a 33-unit, 26,789-square-foot R-2 building developed by Hai Keng Luo with plans filed December 6, 2018 and it has not been permitted yet.

The neighborhood

In Rego Park, the majority, or 64 percent of the 10.6 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 13 percent of the space. In sales, Rego Park has had very little sales volume relative to other neighborhoods with $134.4 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Rego Park has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 10th highest in Queens. It had 973,703 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 this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of two of the four commercial properties representing 68,700 square feet of the 82,147 square feet. The two identified owners are A&E Real Estate Holdings and Slate Property Group.
There are three active new building construction projects totaling 121,316 square feet. The largest is a 26-unit, 63,986-square-foot R-2 building developed by David Schwartz with plans filed November 8, 2021 and it has not been permitted yet.The second largest is a 35-unit, 30,541-square-foot R-2 building developed by Hai Keng Luo with plans filed January 24, 2020 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 84 percent of the 82,147 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 11 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Slate Property Group owned at least 56 commercial properties in New York City with 1,859,845 square feet and a city-determined market value of $462.9 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $955.9 million in debt, with top three lenders as Mack Real Estate Group, Signature Bank, and Heitman LLC respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 65 percent of the 1,859,845 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 18 percent of the space. The bulk, or 57 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 31 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Westhab owned at least one commercial property in New York City with 32,000 square feet and a city-determined market value of $6.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $35.9 million in debt, borrowed from UMB Bank. The portfolio consists of at least a single office property. It is located in Queens.

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