Top Rock scores $125M for Forest Hills condo construction

An empty lot next to a shuttered Forest Hills hospital is nearing a new lease on life as the site of luxury condominiums.

Uri Mermelstein and Joseph Yushuvayev of Top Rock Holdings partnered with Michael and Rudy Abramov of RJ Capital Holdings scored a $125 million construction loan to build upon the vacant lot at 70-28 Grand Central Parkway. 

A joint venture consisting of SYU Properties, Top Rock Holdings and RJ Capital acquired the site in 2021, including the former New Parkway Hospital building. SYU Properties is a limited partner.

SLCE Architects is the designer behind the new 13-story condominium, which is slated to deliver 241 units and span 254,500 square feet.

The move marks Top Rock Holdings’ continued activity in Queens, and adds another joint project with RJ Capital in the neighborhood. The firms bought the Forest Hills Jewish Center in 2022 as a tear down development site. RJ Holdings also completed 74 units of condominiums along Queens Boulevard in 2021.

“We understood the demand and the demographic wants for this area,” said Abramov. “So we went a little bit above and beyond, compared to the previous job we did.” 

Unit offerings will range from studios to three-bedrooms and amenities will include more than 100 parking spaces and a four-lane pool. 

The 32,000-square-foot lot sits next to the former New Parkway Hospital building, which operated from 1963 to 2008, when a state commission revoked its operating license. Its owner, Robert Aquino, pled guilty in 2012 to bribing former state Senator Carl Kruger to keep the hospital open. 

The years that followed saw foreclosures, stalled proposals, zoning debacles and attempted sales, all while the decades-old hospital sat empty.

The site was revived in 2021 when the joint venture paid $31.7 million for the site, gaining 360,000 square feet in total development rights. The project secured $29.4 million in bridge financing from Madison Realty Capital that same year.

The future of the hospital building was not disclosed. The rezoning approval granted to the previous owners stipulated that the hospital’s redevelopment include affordable housing for seniors. Top Rock indicated in 2021 the possibility of selling the senior living portion of the building to a nonprofit.

Construction is scheduled to commence on August 1 with a 30-month construction schedule, Michael Abramov said.

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