Yong Chen signs $18.8M construction loan with S3 Capital for 51-unit project in Kew Gardens

Yong Chen through the entity 8043 KG LLC as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender S3 Capital through the entity S3 Re 8043 Kg Funding LLC valued at $18.8 million for the midblock project at 80-43 Kew Gardens Road in Kew Gardens, Queens.
The deal closed on March 22, 2022 and was recorded on April 8, 2022. The prior loan was provided by S3 Capital which held debt that had an original loan amount of $3.3 million. The property has zero square feet of built space and 26,887 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 26,887 square feet according to PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per buildable square foot is $697 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, 2021, for $5.8 million. The signatory for Yong Chen was Yong Chen. The signatory for S3 Capital was Joshua Crane. The borrower is an affiliate of Golden Stone Management, where Steven Shi is a general manager, according to a LinkedIn page. S3 Capital $18.75 million and obtained a loan on loan from Forbright Bank, based in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

The property

The 80-43 Kew Gardens Road parcel has frontage of 75 feet and is 99 feet deep with a total lot size of 7,816 square feet. The zoning is C4-4 which allows for up to 3.4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 3.44 times FAR for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $695,000.

Violations and lawsuits

The property was not involved in any lawsuits or bankruptcies in the past years. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $1,250 in ECB penalties in the last year.

Development

On these lots, there is one active new building construction project for a 51-unit R-2 building. The project was developed by Yong Chen with plans filed March 23, 2021 and it has not been permitted yet.

The neighborhood

In Kew Gardens, the bulk, or 47 percent of the 13.9 million square feet of commercial built space are residential elevator buildings, with 1-4 family buildings next occupying 26 percent of the space. In sales, Kew Gardens has the 26th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in Queens with $39.7 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Kew Gardens has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 336,070 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 2 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of three of the 15 commercial properties representing 59,836 square feet of the 205,659 square feet. The largest owner is Goldstein Advisors, followed by 120-32 Queens Boulevard LLC and then Yong Chen. There is one active new building construction project, it is a 51-unit R-2 building developed by Yong Chen with plans filed March 23, 2021 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 48 percent of the 287,708 square feet of built space are residential elevator buildings, with retail buildings next occupying 23 percent of the space.

Surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 80-43 Kew Gardens Road, PincusCo identified two commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months.
Of those two items, one was in new building development. It was a new building permit application filed on March 23, 2021 for a 48,319-square-foot R-2 building with 51 residential units at 120-32 Queens Boulevard.
One of those two items was a loan which Goldstein Advisors borrowed $6 million from JPMorgan Chase secured by the 49,636-square-foot, 48-unit rental (D1) on 41 Kew Gardens Road on April 3, 2020.

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