Kushner Companies is in contract to sell a four-building Astoria portfolio to Queens investor Karan Singh for $76 million, or $615 per square foot, sources told The Real Deal. The buildings marked Kushner’s only major Queens venture to date – and a brief one at that.
The package holds 143 rental apartments and six retail spaces, and spans 123,500 square feet. The buildings have climbed in value in just four years. RockFarmer Properties bought them in 2013 for $32 million and then sold them to Kushner for $51 million in January 2015. Kushner opted to sell all but one retail condominium at 21-81 38th Street with five retail units.
The addresses are 21-80 38th Street, 21-81 38th Street, 23-05 30th Avenue and 23-15 30th Avenue.
About 60 percent of the apartments are free-market. Kushner invested about $10 million in the buildings over the past two years, sources said. Kushner’s profit from the sale of the buildings is estimated to be in the neighborhood of $15 million.
Singh entered contract late December, and is slated to close in April, sources told TRD. The sales price clocked in almost $10 million below the $85 million asking price.
Before signing for the Kushner deal, Singh entered contract for another set of Queens properties, which just closed Friday.
71-05 and 71-11 37th Avenue in Jackson Heights
Singh acquired a pair of contiguous rental buildings at 71-05 and 71-11 37th Avenue in Jackson Heights from the Benson Company for $31.5 million. The six-story elevator buildings have a combined 106 apartments and span 85,856 square feet. The average rent at the properties is $1,477 per square feet. The buildings have a total net operating income of $1.2 million, according to marketing materials obtained by TRD.
Singh and his partners Rajmattie Singh and Rajmattie Persaud occasionally buy small single-family and multifamily properties in Queens and the Bronx. But those sporadic acquisitions are leagues away in price from these recent deals. One source said Singh recently “woke up” after years of small-time plays.
For that deal, Singh operated under the entity, 590-600 One Realty Corp., and was represented by the law firm Wachtel Missry.
Aaron Jungreis
Rosewood Realty Group’s [TRDataCustom] Aaron Jungreis, who brokered both deals, declined to comment, as did Kushner. Singh could not be reached.
Laurent Morali became head of Kushner Companies in January after Jared Kushner, who had been the CEO of the development firm for over a decade, stepped down from that position for a senior adviser role at the White House.
Prior to resigning, Jared Kushner negotiated with Anbang Insurance Group to redevelop the 1.45 million-square-foot office tower at 666 Fifth Avenue, which Kushner Companies said could result in its value climbing to as much as $12 billion.