RockFarmer plans nearly 100K sf condo in Astoria

Queens multifamily player would build 43 apartments on site of strip mall

21-21 31st Street and John Petras (Credit: Google Maps)
21-21 31st Street and John Petras (Credit: Google Maps)

RockFarmer Properties filed plans for a 94,000-square-foot luxury condominium building in Astoria, making it one of the Queens landlord’s few condo projects.

The firm, led by John Petras and George Michelis, is planning a mixed-use property at 21-21 31st Street with 43 apartments. DXA Studio [TRDataCustom] would serve as the architect of record and Halstead Property Development Marketing would handle condo sales. A spokesperson for the architect said RockFarmer recently submitted the permit application, though it has not yet appeared on the Department of Buildings’ website.

RockFarmer said it expects to break ground on the site in mid-2018 and wrap construction by summer 2020.

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21-21 31st Street

The firm, which owns about 30 buildings in the city, paid $12.1 million last year for a strip mall on the site, home to multiple discount stores, a restaurant and a laundromat.

Astoria has seen a flurry of recent rental development, but only a handful of new condos. MCV Developers and World Holdings, for example, opened a five-story, 11-unit condo at 26-14 28th Street late last year. In terms of rental megadevelopments, the Durst Organization is building the 2,000-unit Halletts Cove and Alma Realty is behind the 1,763-unit Astoria Cove. Both of those rental projects have been hit with delays in the absence of the 421a tax abatement.