New York Real Estate Journal

Investment Property Realty Group represents The Vaja Group in $26.4 million acquisition of fully entitled Astoria development site

September 21, 2026 - Brokerage

Queens, NY Investment Property Realty Group (IPRG) arranged The Vaja Group’s $26.39 million acquisition of 24-41 31st St., a fully entitled development site in Astoria.

The 29,638 s/f site traded for $176 per buildable s/f.

Donal Flaherty, partner at IPRG, represented the buyer. Evan Daniel of Modern Spaces’ Commercial Division represented the seller.

The property offers 149,733 buildable s/f as of right for a mixed-use development and more than 443-ft. of wraparound frontage along 31st St., 24th Rd. and 32nd St. Zoned C4-5X/C4-4/R5B following the 31st St.–Hoyt Ave. rezoning, the site sits one block from the Astoria Blvd. N/W subway station. 

The rezoning enabled a new mixed-use corridor along 31st St. and allows for ground-floor retail, community facility space, and permanently affordable housing delivered under the city’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program. The entitlements at 24-41 31st St. support a 108-unit mixed-use development opportunity with 14,000 s/f of retail space and parking. The acquisition expands The Vaja Group’s holdings along the corridor. Flaherty also represented the developer in its acquisition of the adjacent Neptune Diner last year, giving The Vaja Group control of contiguous, entitled frontage across one of Astoria’s most visible stretches of 31st St.

The transaction comes amid increased investment activity in Queens. Borough-wide investment sales totaled approximately $2.6 billion during the first half of 2026, up 49% year over year. Development site transaction volume increased 161%, while average pricing was $203 per buildable s/f. 

“Scale is the hardest thing to find in Astoria. You can buy a lot, but you can’t buy a full block with 443 feet of frontage and entitlements already in hand,” said Flaherty. “Vaja understood that immediately and moved decisively. Between this site and the Neptune parcel, they now control a stretch of 31st St. that will define the corridor for the next twenty years.”