A plethora of deals made up the top 10 investment-sales in Queens for the second quarter, with no single type of transaction taking up more than three spots on the list.
The biggest deal in the borough recorded from April 1 to June 30 was GFI Capital Resources’ $58.1 million purchase of The Crowne Plaza Hotel On 135th Avenue near JFK Airport, according to data from Real Capital Analytics. This was followed by an industrial deal on 23rd Street in Long Island City, a residential building trade on Durmont Avenue, a storage deal on the Whitestone Expressway, a retail deal on Yellowstone Boulevard and an office deal on 41st Avenue.
Rounding out the list were the sale of A Development Site On Jackson Avenue, along with two more residential sales and one more office sale.
Overall, the top 10 deals totaled about $296 million, significantly lower than the first quarter’s total of about $423 million. However, Queens’ total for the first quarter included Fidelis Care’s $139.9 million purchase of 95-25 Queens Boulevard, a price that no second quarter deal even approached. Additionally, the price for one of the second quarter’s top deals—Slate Property Group’s purchase of a former Key Food site—has not been disclosed.
Check out the full list of top Queens transactions below:
138-10 135th Ave
1. Crowne Plaza JFK, $58.1 million
Buyer: GFI Capital Resources
Seller: Elliott Management
This 330-key hotel is located at 138-10 135th Ave, right by JFK Airport, and Allen Gross’ GFI purchased it in April. Crescent Hotels and Resorts will manage the property, and GFI hopes to boost its net operating income to $5.8 million, up from $5.4 million last year. Elliott purchased the hotel in 2012 for $16.5 million, after which it underwent major renovations before reopening in 2014.
2. 43-10 23rd Street, approximately $54 million
Buyer: Normandy Real Estate Partners
Seller: Kassabian Realty LLC
Normandy plans to turn this 130,000-square-foot warehouse into a 195,000-square-foot office building. The company purchased a $54 million stake in the property and intends to work with building owner Kassabian Realty to renovate the building and turn it into loft-style creative office space.
3. Balsam Village, approximately $39.5 million
Buyer: Lawrence Bernstein
Seller: Bruce Gordon
Brokerage: Jerry Fink Real Estate
This Durmont Avenue apartment complex contains 270 units spread across 45 buildings. The development was built in 1975, and Bernstein purchased it in May.
4. CubeSmart Self Storage, $28 million
Brokerage: Sperry Van Ness
This 98,853-square-foot storage facility at 31-40 Whitestone Expressway sold in June for $28 million. The Real Capital Analytics report did not list a buyer or seller, but property records with the city list the buyer as New York storage company Storage Deluxe and the seller as Whitestone Expressway Realty LLC.
5. Former Key Food
Buyer: Slate Property Group
Seller: Gross Family and Grobman Family
Slate Property Group plans to build a 170-unit rental building in Forest Hills at 69-65 Yellowstone Boulevard, the site of a Key Food. The company formed a joint venture with the Gross and Grobman families, the owners of the property, but the financial terms were not disclosed. However, it is still likely one of Queens’ biggest deals, according to Real Capital Analytics. Slate plans for the building to be 11 stories tall and 230,000 square feet.
6. 21-07 41st Avenue, $25 million
Buyer: Himmel + Meringoff Properties
Seller: Daniel Geoly
Brokerage: Empire Leasing & Development
Himmel + Meringoff purchased this 127,000-square-foot Long Island City office and warehouse building in June. Tenants include embroidery company Penn & Fletcher and Magellan Fine Arts Services, and the company believes it will be attractive to tech and science tenants after the Cornell Tech campus opens on Roosevelt Island.
7. 209-35 Northern Boulevard, approximately $24.4 million
Buyer: Garden Plaza Management LLC
Seller: Yunhee Chung MD
Garden Plaza Management purchased this 40,677-square-foot two-story office building in June. The building was constructed in 1955 and includes street-level retail.
8. 89-10 Whitney Avenue, approximately $23.4 million
Buyer: Antonio Feggoudakis
Seller: Heller Realty
Brokerage: Rosewood Realty
Feggoudakis purchased this 96-unit rent-stabilized Elmhurst building from Heller Realty in June. The six-story building was built in 1941, and Heller had purchased it in 2012 for $12.2 million.
30-64 34th Street in Astoria
9. Former Teamsters 2243, approximately $23 million
Buyer: Circle F Capital
Seller: Robert Eaton Building Corp
Circle F plans to build a mixed-use, 11-story building with 71 residential units at 22-43 Jackson Avenue in Long Island City. The 74,805-square-foot project is located a block from the 5Pointz development and would feature ground floor retail, a business center, a meeting room and a gym.
10. 30-64 34th Street, $20.5 million
Buyer: Urban American Management Corp
Seller: Takis Tsagronis
Brokerage: Marcus & Millichap
Urban American purchased a pair of five-story buildings with 70 rent-regulated units in May. Tsagronis had purchased the properties in 2001 for an undisclosed price.