Miramar and C condos in Elmhurst

New construction is gaining ground in Elmhurst, leading to a revival of the Queens neighborhood that has civic leaders calling for expanded Metropolitan Transportation Authority service to the area, the Wall Street Journal reported. Two new condominium buildings, the Miramar and C Condo, have opened in recent years with an eye on luring Manhattanites to under-the-radar Queens enclave. In the next few weeks Pi Capital will bring a mixed-use development on Broadway and Queens Boulevard with 83 apartments and several retail spaces to the market. [more]

One worker was killed and three injured this morning after a cinder block wall collapsed at a Queens construction site, according to the New York Times. The five-story Elmhurst development, located at 85-02 Queens Boulevard, is in its early stages, according to a spokesperson for the city Department of Buildings. It was not immediately clear what kind of development the building is, and general contractor H. Rock Corporation declined to comment. [more]

One of the allegedly targeted buildings at 99-45 67th Road in Rego Park and DA Richard Brown

(Updated 3:10 p.m., July 13)
A former managing agent for a collection of five Queens apartment
buildings has been charged with embezzling almost $950,000 in
tenant-paid maintenance fees, according to the Queens district
attorney’s office. The defendant, Michael Richter, and his company,
Charter Management Realty, allegedly siphoned off the cash over a
six-year period, concealing his scheme behind a lock- [more]

One of the allegedly targeted buildings at 99-45 67th Road in Rego Park and DA Richard Brown

(Updated 3:10 p.m., July 13) A former managing agent for a collection of five Queens apartment buildings has been charged with embezzling almost $950,000 in tenant-paid maintenance fees, according to the Queens district attorney’s office. The defendant, Michael Richter, and his company, Charter Management Realty, allegedly siphoned off the cash over a six-year period, concealing his scheme behind a lock- [more]

A development group has filed a request to reopen bidding on two shuttered Queens hospitals, citing an unfair bidding process in the last auction. Village Management Group asked a federal bankruptcy court yesterday to allow it a shot at the St. John’s Hospital and Mary Immaculate Hospital properties, located in Elmhurst and Jamaica, respectively, which CB Richard Ellis auctioned last month. The winning bidder, Guttman Realty, which spent a total of $26.63 million on the two properties, was announced Oct. 20. Residents and local officials, including Helen Marshall, the Queens borough president, have expressed concern over Guttman’s intention to transform the properties into non-medical facilities. Village Management Group says that it has been in talks with New York Hospital Queens officials to reopen the St. John’s property as a medical center.

Brooklyn-based developer and investment group Guttman Realty made the winning bid for the auction of two bankrupt Caritas Healthcare properties, with the aggregate purchase price coming in at $26.63 million. CB Richard Ellis announced the winning bid today for the two former hospital sites in Queens: the four-acre Mary Immaculate Hospital campus in Jamaica and the two-acre St. John’s Queens Hospital property in Elmhurst. The buyer has not settled on an official use for the two properties, but is considering transforming the Mary Immaculate site for educational, religious, non-profit or governmental use, and using the St. John’s site as an office building. Larry Weiss, a CBRE vice president, which represented the seller in the auction, said his firm was happy with the auction’s outcome. TRD [more]

Shareholders of the Continental, a co-op building at 87-10 51st Avenue in Elmhurst, have accused its board of directors of taking out $12 million in mortgages without telling them. The shareholders allege that they first found out about the mortgages, broken into two $6 million loans, in June, when court papers warning of foreclosure arrived. Further, the shareholders contend that Council Member Helen Sears ignored the problem because of an alleged financial arrangement between Sears and the directors. Sears has received political contributions from the board, one shareholder told the New York Daily News, a relationship the shareholder believes has influenced her decision-making. Sears has denied the allegations, saying that her “friendships with people have nothing to do with [her] service to [her] constituents.”