iCross Capital Provides $125M Construction Loan for Long Island City Condos

Z.D. Jasper Realty has landed $125 million of construction financing to build condominium development in Long Island City, Queens, Commercial Observer has learned.

iCross Capital provided the loan for the developer’s planned 23-story condo tower at 45-40 Vernon Boulevard, where the former Paragon Paint Factory once stood. Z.D. Jasper Realty acquired the development site for $47 million from a joint venture between Quadrum Global, Baron Property Group and Simon Development last August. 

Arrow Real Estate Advisors arranged the debt transaction with a team consisting of Morris Betesh, Omar Ferreira and Jacob Petrovic.

“We are proud to support the growth of Long Island City and the transformation and preservation of iconic spaces to bring luxury housing options to the evolving neighborhood,” Betesh, founder and managing partner at Arrow Real Estate Advisors, said in a statement. 

Z.D. Jasper Realty plans to develop 190 condo luxury condo units in a tower above a podium with retail space where the Paragon building was housed. 

The 45-40 Vernon Boulevard property is adjacent to where Amazon had previously intended to build a second headquarters, before scrapping the proposal in early 2019 due to local opposition around tax incentives the e-commerce giant was going to receive. New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s administration announced this past February plans to open bids for developing the once-planned Amazon site that currently houses a 672,000-square-foot warehouse.

Officials at iCross Capital and Z.D. Jasper Realty did not immediately return requests for comment. 

Andrew Coen can be reached at acoen@commercialobserver.com