FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com MAY 26, 2016 • The Queens Courier 3 Queens investor locks in contract for a $28M condo in Chinatown By Briana Ellis bellis@qns.com/@briinformed An investor from Jamaica, Queens, is rocking the real estate world with his recent contract to obtain a three-floor retail condominium unit in Chinatown, worth a whopping $28 million, sources say. The Real Deal, a real estate news website, reported that investor Gurpreet Singh’s Jamaica Woods Holding LLC is paying $1,664 per square foot for the almost 17,000-square-foot property. The space consists of the first three floors and basement of a 15-story, 58,000-square-foot commercial condo building located at 11 East Broadway, on the corner of Catherine Street. According to the source, Singh is purchasing the retail condo at a 4.4 percent cap rate as part of a 1031 exchange, after recently selling an apartment building in Jamaica. Jamaica Woods will acquire the condo, which is currently triple net leased to HSBC Bank for the next eight years plus a 10-year tenant renewal option. The deal was offered by an affiliation of Chinese American professionals, mainly doctors and lawyers, who own several office condos at 11 East Broadway, sources said. They also created the Wyndham Garden Chinatown, a 106-room hotel located nearby on Bowery. The Real Deal added that Kevin Salmon and Christian Wood, Khizer Property Advisors in Midtown, represented both the buyer and the seller. The source quoted Khizer’s statement, where he explained that the investor gravitated toward “the stability of the tenant as well as the long-term potential of the property and location.” Khizer announced the deal and said that the seller consortium will remain on the market “to acquire additional properties up to $20 million that are a 4.2 percent cap or greater,” The Real Deal cited. Salmon, who confirmed the transaction, said that Khizer is also representing the consortium as it prepares to sell their office condos, located on the upper floors of the building, in upcoming weeks. The Real Deal also noted, “In 2013, Kee Lin, a former property manager at 11 East Broadway, pleaded guilty to stealing more than $1.5 million from the building’s business account – and that of another building at 128 Mott Street – through writing authorized checks. Kee was sentenced to up to three years in prison.” The Queens Courier contacted Jamaica Woods and Khizer Property Advisors and is awaiting a response. Google Maps Check out this condo that sold for $28 million in Chinatown by a Jamaica, Queens, investor. Whitestone residents and volunteers come together to clean up Francis Lewis Park By Briana Ellis bellis@qns.com/@briinformed Residents of the Whitestone community united for a positive cause last Saturday, as they worked together to beautify Francis Lewis Park in Flushing. The event was hosted by the We Love Whitestone and Maureen and Frank Regan of Green Earth Urban Gardens, a nonprofit organization that promotes social and environmental solutions through agriculture and gardening. The residents and civic group partnered with several youth groups and started the cleanup project at Francis Lewis Park, located at 3-01 Third Ave. Residents and volunteers began to arrive at the park around 7 a.m. and started repainting rusted gates, after George Mirtsopolous, vice president of We Love Whitestone, greeted and thanked all of the participants. Jeff Bilodeau, local resident and unofficial park steward, donated nets for the park’s brand-new basketball hoops. “This is an amazing thing to be doing. Neighbors getting together. What a beautiful thing,” Bilodeau said excitedly. Lunch, drinks and snacks were sponsored by the Beechurst Astoria Bank, Gigi’s Pizza and the distributor of HannahMax Baking. Senator Avella also participated and was jokingly named the “cleanup beast” by Alfredo Centola, president of We Love Whitestone. “Senator Avella was nonstop; he came and worked four hours straight. He was pulling things out of the beach area that took two to three men. He asked for help only when it was a really huge piece of garbage,” he said. The We Love Whitestone civic was gracious to all volunteers that participated, including Partnerships for Parks, City Parks Foundation, New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, Yael Rosenstock, Queens College “Action Now” class, Veritas Academy, Flushing, Senator Tony Avella, Astoria Bank, Frank Regan, Ori Franklin and Mirna Velasquez. The groups are planning a second cleanup project soon and encourage more neighbors to get involved. Photo by We Love Whitestone Civic Association We Love Whitestone partnered with Green Earth Urban Gardens, residents, youth groups and volunteers to cleanup Francis Lewis Park.
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