It was only one week of mid-level investment sales, but perhaps indicative of the way things have gone in the New York City real estate market in recent years: The two priciest deals under $30 million were for stuff, not humans.
Astoria residents will likely get a self-storage facility at 34-38 38th Street, where Storage Deluxe paid $20 million for a sports complex that failed to secure permission to expand.
The other deal, for $17.5 million, was for warehouse space, also in Queens. Three sales for residential property rounded out the mid-market list, which has a $10 million cut-off.
Self-storage and warehouses have been hot for years, with developers adding and leasing space like never before. Meanwhile, housing development has failed to keep pace with population growth this century, pushing rents and home prices up — and creating business for self-storage when people are displaced.
Steve Poliseno, owner and operator of the Astoria Sports Complex since 1977, never could secure an exemption from zoning to redevelop his 38th Street property into a four-story sporting complex.
“I am beyond frustration,” Poliseno told QNS last year.
The other three mid-market deals were in Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx. The five combined deals fetched $83 million, up from $59 million the week before.
Here are more details of sales recorded in the last week of August.
1. Poliseno’s Astoria Ice sold its 53,500-square-foot Astoria Sports Complex at 34-38 38th Street for $20 million. The buyer is an affiliate of self-storage developer Storage Deluxe. Poliseno, who owned and operated the four-story complex beginning in 1977, sought to expand the complex vertically but was reportedly denied permission by the Board of Standards and Appeals. The property has 125,000 square feet of development rights and once sought $40 million. Steven Novenstein signed for the buyer, 3734 Astoria LLC.
2. Morgan Stanley’s Prime Property Fund acquired 90,000 square feet of warehouse space at 182-02 150th Avenue and 182-11 150th Road in Springfield Gardens, Queens, for $17.5 million. The purchase includes air cargo storage for Kennedy Airport and an adjacent 6,000-square-foot parking lot. The seller was Florida-based real estate investment trust the Geo Group, which operates jails and prisons on behalf of government clients, including the Queens Detention Facility in Jamaica.
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3. Michael Tsoumpas sold a 22-unit apartment building at 333 Atlantic Avenue in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, for $16.5 million. The buyer was James Gaston.
4. Simeon Bruner sold a 5,500-square-foot apartment building with 5 units at 22 East 10th Street in Greenwich Village for $15 million, via limited liability company Tenth Street Properties. The buyer was Eli Casdin through Charlea House LLC.
5. The Connecticut-based Morgan Group transferred ownership of an 80,000-square-foot, mixed-use building at 2300 Grand Concourse in Fordham, Bronx, to Denali Management. The transaction was valued at $14 million.