Carlyle Group Buys in on Long Island City Project

The Carlyle Group joined Hal Fetner and his partners to develop a pair of high-rise rental towers in Long Island City.

The private equity giant purchased a stake as a limited partner in the project at 26-32 Jackson Avenue from Fetner Properties and the Lions Group. The size of the stake wasn’t clear, but property records show Carlyle bought the site for $42 million.

Carlyle’s investment was contingent on his firm completing the foundation in order to secure a 421a tax abatement, Fetner told The Real Deal. Brookfield provided a $35.8 million loan as part of a larger financing package.

Plans for the site call for a pair of apartment buildings with 363 units, 30 percent of which (109 apartments) will be set aside as income-restricted rentals.

Fetner said he was proud of the mixed-income portion of the project, “especially at this time when the creation of new housing is so critically important.”

Construction is scheduled for completion around September 2025.

It could be among the last major rental developments for a while with no clear replacement for the expired 421a incentive on the horizon.

Gov. Kathy Hochul had proposed an extension for projects vested under the expired program to finish completion in her preliminary budget in February, but offered no replacement.

It was part of her ambitious plan to create 800,000 new homes statewide over the next decade, but that housing agenda has seemingly fallen out of the budget, which is now about a month later.

Carlyle, meanwhile, has been active on the multifamily front. The company recently joined Ofer Yardeni’s Stonehenge NYC on its purchase of the 196-unit RiverEast rental tower at 408 East 92nd Street for $114 million.