Zara Realty buys pair of Queens multifamily buildings for $80M

Zara Realty has purchased a pair of multifamily buildings in Flushing for $80 million, according to property records and sources familiar with the deal.

Ken Subraj’s firm bought 140-60 Beech Avenue for $37.5 million, and 140-30 and 140-50 Ash Avenue for $42.5 million from Ilias Theodoropoulos, who has owned the Beech Avenue property since 2005 and the Ash Avenue property since 2008. The neighboring buildings span about 250,000 square feet and contain 266 apartments overall, and Zara plans to hold onto them both as long-term assets.

Meridian’s Amit Doshi, Jonathan Shainberg and Shallini Mehra

A Meridian Capital team of Amit Doshi, Jonathan Shainberg and Shallini Mehra brokered the off-market deal for both sides. The team was unavailable for comment.

This is at least the second major multifamily deal Queens has seen recently, despite the normally slow pace of trades in the borough and the overall slowdown in the market. Fisher Associates bought a pair of buildings at 6107-6125 Woodside Avenue in late May for about $36.4 million from longtime owner Eric Markel.

And earlier this year, HUBB NYC bought 31-57 31st Street from Mega Contracting Group and Treeline Companies for $75 million.

Zara is a major landowner in southeast Queens, with holdings in Jamaica and Elmhurst. The landlord was recently hit with a lawsuit from Attorney General Letitia James, who accused the company of violating New York’s rent stabilization laws and harassing tenants with illegal broker fees, rent increases and late fees. Zara’s attorneys said that they will contest the lawsuit’s allegations and that many of them are inaccurate.