Douglas Durst’s Durst Organization nabbed the last parcel to move ahead with its massive Hallets Point development on the Queens waterfront, according to property records filed with the city today. Durst paid real estate investor $15 million for the parcel.
The parcel, located at 1-02 26th Avenue in Astoria between First and Second streets, was originally supposed to close in September. Deutsch’s Astoria Equities 2000 first signed a contract with Lincoln Equities in 2007, as The Real Deal reported. Originally, Lincoln planned to buy the lot for $7.5 million.
Deutsch sued the Durst Organization and Lincoln Equities in October, claiming the developers broke the agreement. “Astoria Equities, which agreed to receive substantially less than fair market value in cash… because it also would be receiving and equity interest… would be forced to ‘cash out,'” the complaint stated.
The Durst Organization took control of the project in October 2014, when it bought three parcels at the site for $130 million from New Jersey-based Lincoln Equities.
The 2.5 million-square-foot Hallets Point project will include 2,400 market-rate and affordable units and is slated to cost about $1.5 billion.