Former Staples Site in Astoria Sells for $26.85M With $20M Loan
The deed price works out to about $179 per buildable square foot under the site's 5.0 residential FAR, and the loan covers 74% of it.
A one-story retail building on 31st Street in Astoria, Queens, was deeded for $26.85 million on Sept. 18, and the buyer recorded a $20 million Ponce Bank mortgage the same day it recorded the deed. Commercial Observer reported that Vaja Group is the buyer and plans a 108-unit mixed-use project; the city record names only an LLC.
Why it matters
The deed moves the lot at 24-29 31st Street from 2441 Astoria Associates, LLC to Staples Tower LLC for $26,850,000. It was recorded Sept. 23, alongside a $20 million mortgage and an assignment of leases, both to Ponce Bank. The loan is 74.5% of the price, which leaves the buyer about $6.85 million of its own money in. Commercial Observer’s report put the price at $26.39 million and the buyer as Vaja Group; the recorded figure is the higher one, and the deed does not name the people behind Staples Tower LLC.
The numbers
City PLUTO data lists a 26,280 square foot, one-story retail building from 1961 on 29,940 square feet of land, zoned C4-5X with a 5.0 residential floor area ratio. That allows about 149,700 buildable square feet, so the deed works out to roughly $179 per buildable square foot, against about $1,022 per square foot of the existing store. The city’s 2022 31st Street-Hoyt Avenue rezoning is what opened this corridor to residential density, according to the press report. We found no DOB job filing on the lot yet, so the 108-unit plan has not reached the city’s permit system. The prior price paid by the seller is not in the records we pulled. For another Ponce Bank loan on a development site, see our report on the Duffield Street tower, and more in our New York coverage.
What’s next
Watch DOB NOW for a new building filing at 24-29 31st Street and a demolition permit for the store. A filing would confirm the unit count and the buyer. Vaja Group’s earlier Astoria sites, reported by trade press, went from purchase to construction loan, so a lender-backed build is the likely path here too.
On the record
What we checked ourselves, and where you can check it too.
- Public recordACRIS deed 2026092200046001 conveys Queens block 837 lot 27 from 2441 Astoria Associates, LLC to Staples Tower LLC for $26,850,000, dated Sept. 18 and recorded Sept. 23, 2026.View the record on a836-acris.nyc.gov
- Public recordThe same day, Staples Tower LLC recorded a $20,000,000 mortgage and a matching assignment of leases to Ponce Bank, N.A. (documents 2026092200046002 and 2026092200046003), so the loan covers 74.5% of the price.View the record on a836-acris.nyc.gov
- Public recordCity PLUTO data lists the lot as a one-story, 26,280 sq ft retail building from 1961 on 29,940 sq ft of land, zoned C4-5X with a 5.0 residential FAR, or about 149,700 buildable sq ft. The deed price is about $179 per buildable sq ft and about $1,022 per sq ft of the existing building.View the record on zola.planning.nyc.gov
Sources
- NYC ACRIS, deed document 2026092200046001Deed, 2441 Astoria Associates, LLC to Staples Tower LLC, $26,850,000, dated Sept. 18, 2026, recorded Sept. 23
- NYC ACRIS, mortgage document 2026092200046002Mortgage, $20,000,000, Staples Tower LLC to Ponce Bank, N.A., recorded Sept. 23, 2026
- NYC ACRIS, assignment of leases 2026092200046003Assignment of leases and rents, $20,000,000, Staples Tower LLC to Ponce Bank, N.A.
- NYC PLUTO (ZoLa), Queens block 837 lot 2724-29 31 Street, class K1, 26,280 sq ft on a 29,940 sq ft lot, zoned C4-5X, built 1961
- Commercial ObserverVaja Group Acquires Astoria Development Site at 24-41 31st Street for $26M