Tech exec puts Astoria rental building on the market for $135M

David Lubinitsky acquired 213-unit property for $88M from Criterion Group in 2014

12-15 Broadway
12-15 Broadway in Astoria

Tech entrepreneur David Lubinitsky is seeking a tidy profit on a 213-unit Astoria rental building that he acquired for $88 million less than two years ago.

Lubinitsky, who heads Long Island City-based speech recognition software company ECTACO, hired an Ackman-Ziff team to market the eight-story property at 12-15 Broadway with the asking price of about $135 million, according to Crain’s.

The executive purchased the building in 2014 from developer Shibber Khan’s Criterion Group, as The Real Deal reported. Criterion developed the property and sold it to Lubinitsky shortly after its completion.

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The building comes with the perk of having received the 421a tax break, which expired at the start of this year. The property is located in one of the 421a program’s exclusion zones – meaning Criterion did not have to include an affordable housing component and the new owner would not have to charge below-market rents.

An Ackman-Ziff team of Jason Meister, Marion Jones and David Robinov is marketing the building. [Crain’s]Rey Mashayekhi