Zhongyin Lyu, Jianfei Chen sign $81M construction loan with Madison Realty for 150-unit project in Flushing

Zhongyin Lyu and Jianfei Chen through the entity 37 Ave Richouse LLC as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender Madison Realty Capital through the entity 133-25 37th Ave 1 LLC valued at $81 million for the midblock development site at 133-24 36th Road and 133-28 36th Road in Flushing, Queens.
The deal closed on March 30, 2022 and was recorded on April 12, 2022.
The signatory for Zhongyin Lyu and Jianfei Chen was Zhongyin Lyu. The signatory for Madison Realty Capital was Brian Shatz. Jianfei Chen and Lyu bought the property for $58 million in 2020.

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 133-24 36th Road.

The property

The 133-24 36th Road parcel has frontage of 95 feet and is 230 feet deep with a total lot size of 37,421 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is C4-2 which allows for up to 3.4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 2.43 times FAR for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $3.4 million. The most recent loan totaled $27 million and was provided by W Financial on February 20, 2020.

Violations and lawsuits

The properties were not involved in any lawsuits or bankruptcies in the past years. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have received $1,300 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

On these lots, there is one active new building construction project. It is a new building project for a 150-unit, 307,030-square-foot R-2 building developed by Jianfei Chen with plans filed June 9, 2021 and it has not been permitted yet.

The neighborhood

In Flushing, the bulk, or 39 percent of the 78.7 million square feet of commercial built space are residential elevator buildings, with 1-4 family buildings next occupying 29 percent of the space. In sales, Flushing has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $312.4 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 4th highest in Queens. For development, Flushing has 2.9 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 5th highest in Queens. It had 2.6 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 3 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On the tax block of 133-24 36th Road, PincusCo has identified the owners of eight of the 13 commercial properties representing 145,206 square feet of the 205,737 square feet. The largest owner is Ricky Liang, followed by Lan Chen Pee and then FSA Capital. There are four active new building construction projects totaling 634,429 square feet. The largest is a 506-unit, 204,123-square-foot R-1 building developed by Junda Chen with plans filed August 7, 2018 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a 32-unit, 87,514-square-foot R-2 building developed by Tony Chen with plans filed October 11, 2016 and it has not been permitted yet.

the majority, or 60 percent of the 138,575 square feet of built space are industrial buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 19 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Jianfei Chen owned at least two commercial properties with 59,734 square feet and a city-determined market value of $2.1 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $41.3 million in debt, borrowed from W Financial and Arbor Realty Trust. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 82 percent of the 59,734 square feet of built space are residential elevator properties, with industrial properties next occupying 18 percent of the space. They are all located in Queens.

Surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 133-24 36th Road, Pincusco identified six commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months.
Of those six items, one was in new building development. It was a new building permit issued on August 13, 2020 for a 35,762-square-foot R-2 building with 26 residential units at 134-16 36th Road.
Of those six items, five were loans above $5 million totaling $470.7 million. The most recent of the five was Lan Chen Pee which borrowed $20 million from CTBC Bank secured by two condo units in the 13,859-square-foot, 52-unit mixed-use building (RM) on 59-05 Main Street on January 29, 2020.

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