Below I will outline some of the most recent happenings and transactions in the Forest Hills and Rego Park commercial/investment property market:
• 71-53, 55 & 57 Austin St. in Forest Hills: Plans have been filed to contstruct a new 27,878 s/f, seven-story (plus cellar), elevator, mixed-use building on this 4,965 s/f lot. The building will have 6,032 s/f of ground floor retail space and 21 residential units totaling 21,846 s/f. The owner, Jerry Lebedowicz, purchased the three-buildings back in December 2015 for $8.7 million; which equates to $312 per buildable s/f.
• 107-02 Queens Blvd. in Forest Hills: This 11,948 s/f retail building, containing seven stores is situated on a 17,090 s/f lot. It sold for $21.1 million in June 2016. The property boasts 162 ft. of frontage on Queens Blvd. The site is situated in a C4-5X, C4-4A/FH zoning district; giving it over 85,000 buildable s/f as of right. The seller is the Stalls and Guhse family of Backus Land Management and the purchaser is Rudolf Abramov of De Boulevard LLC. The sales price of $21.1 million equates to $1,765 per s/f and $246 per buildable s/f. A demolition permit has been filed for this site in November 2016.
• 62-60 99th St. in Rego Park: “Saxon Hall,” the 16-story, 419-unit, 503,000 s/f apartment complex has sold for the third time in nine years. It first sold for $74 million back in May 2008, then again in June 2013 for $85.25 million and most recently in June of 2016 for $135.5 million. The sales price equates to $269 per s/f and $323,389 per residential unit. The sellers are TreeTop Development/Adam Mermelstein and the purchaser is Madison Realty Capital/Joshua Zegen. The reported capitalization rate was 4.5% and the GRM was 14.5X.
• 99-01 Queens Blvd. in Rego Park: The 57,000 s/f, two-story, retail/office building with tenants: Bank of America, Devry College and New York Sports Club, sold for $31.215 million in June 2016. The property boasts 258 ft. of frontage on Queens Blvd. The seller is Vornado Realty Trust and the Purchaser is Blumenfeld Development Group/Brad Blumenfeld based out of Syosset.
• 80-15 Grenfell St aka 118-16 Union Tpke. in Forest Hills/Kew Gardens area: This 82,091 s/f, six-story, elevator apartment building contains 128 apartments. The building boasts 195 ft. of frontage on Grenfell St. and 140 ft. of frontage on Union Tpke. The sales price on February 2016 was $28 million; this equates to $341 per s/f and $218,750 per unit. The seller is Susan Jane Miller of Grenfell Realty Co. and the purchaser is BRG Management LLC/Daniel Benedict of Great Neck.
• 6202-6230 Woodhaven Blvd. in Rego Park: This 19,285 s/f, single-story, 15-store, retail building boasts 290 ft. of frontage on Woodhaven Blvd. The 24,250 s/f lot is situated in a R8B, C1-2 Zone giving it 4X FAR for a future development site; or 98,080 suildable s/f as of right. The property sold for $19 million in September 2016. The sales price equates to $985 per s/f and $193 per buildable s/f. The capitalization rate at time of closing was 3.25%. The seller is United Properties Corp. The purchaser is Fazlur Khan based out Astoria.
• 68-04 Burns St. in Forest Hills: A 19,788 s/f, six-story, corner, elevator apartment building containing 15 residential units and three commercial units. This property sold for $8.7 million in May 2016. The sales price equates to $580,000 per residential unit and $439 per s/f.
• 68-50 Burns St. in Forest Hills: A 24,408 s/f, six-story, corner elevator apartment building containing 20 apartments. This property sold for $6.7 million in May 2016. The sales price equates to $274 per s/f and $335,000 per unit.
The seller for both properties is the Glantz Realty Co. out of Jamaica Estates. The purchaser for both buildings is David Realty Gardens/Lennard Katz out of Little Neck. The combined sales price of $15.4 million equates to $440,000 per residential unit and $348 per s/f.
• 116-34 Queens Blvd. in Forest Hills: This 6,000 s/f, single-story, single tenant retail building boasts 60 ft. of frontage on Queens Blvd. and is 120 ft. deep. The 7,200 s/f lot is situated in a C4-2 zone giving this site 24,480 buildable s/f. The property sold in November of 2016 for $8.3 million. The sales price equates to $1,383 per s/f and $339 per buildable s/f. The seller is Canary Associates/Ellen Goldstein and the Purchaser is QB Blvd Management Group LLC/Elizabeth Almonte.
The transactions are just a small sample of a busy 2016 for the Forest Hills and Rego Park commercial real estate market. There are numerous new projects slated to be built in the area as well. The data metrics for these neighborhoods continue to be among the highest in the borough.
Rubin Isak is the president & founder of Goldenwood Property Advisors, New York, N.Y.