Rybak, Century file to build Queens multifamily projects

Developers would bring more than 200 units to Forest Hills, Long Island City

From left: Century Development's Group’s George Xu and City/Rybak Development’s Sergey Rybak with 78-29 Austin St./11-36 45 Road
From left: Century Development's Group’s George Xu and City/Rybak Development’s Sergey Rybak with 78-29 Austin St./11-36 45 Road (Crunchbase, Michael McWeeney)

A pair of outer borough real estate developers have each submitted plans to bring more than 200 residential units to Queens.

Sergey Rybak’s Rybak Development and George Xu’s Century Development Group filed separately on Monday to build a total of 280,000 square feet in Forest Hills and Long Island City.

Rybak’s Brooklyn-based firm is seeking to build a 150,000-square-foot multifamily project at 78-29 Austin Street in Forest Hills. Rybak bought the development site from the Kew-Forest school for $21 million just last month.

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The complex, called The Austin, would consist of 91 luxury residential units across six floors. About 132,000 square feet would be dedicated to apartments, with the remaining space for amenities such as a spa, lounge, gym and recreation rooms.

Rybak is also looking to construct a 41,000-square-foot community facility, which would bring the project to more than 191,000 square feet, according to the permit filing. The complex would have a 123-space parking lot.

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Construction is expected to finish in the third quarter of next year. Valley Bank is Rybak’s lender on the project.

Rybak did not respond to a request for comment by press time. The Real Deal could not determine if the project might qualify for the recently expired 421a tax abatement. If it does not, Rybak figures to build a condominium, not a rental building.

Xu’s Queens-based firm is looking to build a $13 million, 130,000-square-foot project at 11-36 45th Road in Long Island City, according to the permit filing. The seven-floor building would have 119 apartments across more than 80,000 square feet.

It would include a 23,000 square-foot community facility and a 52-space parking garage. Century bought the property for $26 million in 2019, according to city records.

Century’s other Queens residential projects include a 15-story, 310-room, 350,000-square-foot property at 33-66 Farrington Street in Flushing and an eight-story, 109-unit, 99,000-square-foot building at 148-33 88th Avenue in Jamaica.

Century and Raymond Chan, the project’s architect, did not immediately respond to requests for comment about whether it could qualify for 421a and when construction might begin.