Yong Chen pays $10.3M for development site in Astoria

Yong Chen through the entity FBL Astoria LLC paid $10.3 million to Edward S. Didero, Jr. through the entity The Green Point Three, LLC for the development building (V1) at 31-16 21st Street in Astoria, Queens.
The deal closed on June 8, 2022 and was recorded on July 5, 2022. The property has zero square feet of built space and 40,532 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 40,532 square feet according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per buildable square foot is $254 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 property

The 31-16 21st Street parcel has frontage of 104 feet and is 102 feet deep with a total lot size of 10,133 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R7A which allows for up to 4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $1.1 million.

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 not received any significant violations in the last year.

Development

There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $5 million on this tax lot.

The neighborhood

In Astoria, the bulk, or 34 percent of the 42.1 million square feet of commercial built space are residential walkup buildings, with residential elevator buildings next occupying 30 percent of the space. In sales, Astoria has 3.1 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $994.8 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 2nd highest in Queens. For development, Astoria has 3.6 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 4th highest in Queens. It had 3.7 million 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 five of the 21 commercial properties representing 28,191 square feet of the 99,574 square feet. The largest owner is Anela Radoncic, followed by Bhoj Lochan and then Paul Zelazowski. There is one active new building construction project totaling 17,597 square feet. It is a 24-unit, 17,597-square-foot R-2 building developed by Ke An Chen with plans filed December 6, 2019 and permitted June 25, 2021.

The majority, or 54 percent of the 99,574 square feet of built space are residential walkup buildings, with residential elevator buildings next occupying 30 percent of the space.

Surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 31-16 21st Street, PincusCo identified six commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months.
Of those six items, two were in new building development. There were two new building permits. The most recent of these two items was a permit on June 1, 2022 for a 12,534-square-foot R-2 building with 14 residential units at 21-10 31st Avenue.
Of those six items, four were loans above $5 million totaling $38.2 million. The most recent of the four was Anthony Hu which borrowed $17 million from Cathay Bank secured by the 44,955-square-foot, 48-unit rental (D7) on 30-98 21st Street on October 29, 2021.

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