Queens major commercial real estate transactions report - 3rd quarter 2014

Commercial real estate in Queens has been getting a lot of attention in media outlets recently. Over half a billion dollars have been invested here in the last quarter alone. Below I will touch on a few of the most interesting large transactions by smart money investors in the borough: The Durst Organization has just purchased a 90% stake in Lincoln Equities' Hallets Point project in Astoria, Queens for $100 million. The 2.5 million s/f, waterfront project, will boast more than 2,400 rental housing units, a school, a retail center, a park and over 480 affordable housing units. This is the Durst Organizations first foray into Queens. The project is estimated to cost $1.5 billion to complete. The Durst family is currently pushing for Water Ferries to service Astoria Cove/Hallets Point to Manhattan. If approved, the new ferries would be a much needed major public transportation hub for that area. Alma Realty purchased a four-parcel lot with 4.8 acres on 26th Ave. and 9th St. in Astoria, Queens in the newly approved rezoned Astoria Cove area (the plan calls for 1,723 housing units). The seller was Superior Steel Studs, Inc. The purchase price was $40.08 million. A & E Real Estate Holdings just purchased a portfolio of 53 buildings consisting of 1,270 housing units in the Kew Garden Hills section of Queens for $216 million from Hudson Realty Capital. The portfolio also boasts hundreds of thousands of s/f of additional ground up development rights. Hospitality firm, King's USA Group just purchased the 87,638 s/f retail building on 39th Ave. near College Point Blvd. in Flushing, Queens for $54.6 million. The supermarket site is zoned C4-2 with over 473,000 buildable s/f for a ground up development project in the future. 144-10 35th Ave., The Hampton Inn, just closed for $41.4 million. The property is a 216-room hotel servicing JFK Airport. The hotel consisted of 114,800 gross s/f. The purchaser was Magna Hospitality Group. 28-56 Steinway St. just sold for a second time in seven years for $32 million (it last sold for $22.5 million). The three-tenant retail building is situated on the corner of 30th Ave. and Steinway St. The purchaser was Queens based Werber Management. The seller was Orin Wilf of Skyline Developers. 42-72 80th St. in Elmhurst, a 103-unit, six-story, elevator apartment building with parking, built in 1927 just sold for $21 million. The seller was Efiso Realty and the purchaser was Werber Management of Elmhurst, Queens. 157-11 Sanford Ave. in the Murray Hill/Flushing section of Queens just closed for $17 million. The property is a 71,150 s/f, six-story, elevator apartment building consisting of 86 residential units. The buyer was Chios Realty Group out of Bayside, Queens and the seller was Sanford Apts, LLC. 28-20 Borden Ave. in Long Island City sold for $28.5 million. The NNN leased site is currently an 85,000 s/f parking lot leased to FedEx until 2027. The buyer was GTJ Reit, Inc out of West Hempstead. A mixed-use development site with a combined two-acre footprint and 720,000 s/f of ground up development rights just sold for $22 million. The sellers were Wharton Realty Group out of New Jersey and the buyer was Mr. Xu with Jamaica Tower, LLC of Flushing. A 6,584 s/f retail condo on Metropolitan Avenue in Kew Gardens, fully leased to TD Bank on a NNN basis with 10+ years remaining on the lease, just traded for $10.2 million, or $1,549 per s/f. The seller was Park Lane Commerce, LLC out of Glen Head and the purchasers were Golden & Equity Management based in Manhattan. Some of the reasons that values are higher and more money is finding its way into Queens are due to low interest rates, higher retail and residential rents and the fact that Manhattan and Brooklyn are perceived by a vast majority of investors as "too expensive." As long as interest rates remain low and condo prices keep rising, sales volume and value in Queens will continue to climb sharply. Rubin Isak is the CEO & co-founder of Falco & Isak Realty Services, Queens, N.Y.