Pearl Realty Management just picked up the Paragon building in Long Island City for $28 million, locking down a seven-story office block that sold for far more not too long ago. The deal hands the buyer control of roughly 129,000 square feet of office and ground-floor retail a short walk from the 7 train and Long Island Rail Road hubs. For brokers tracking the shift in office values, the trade is another signal that opportunistic investors are scooping up re-priced office stock across the outer boroughs.
Deal details
As reported by Crain's New York Business, the Paragon building at 21-02 49th Avenue sold for $28,000,000 to Pearl Realty Management. The Crain's report characterizes the sale as a sharp markdown from recent trades in the neighborhood. City records and broker listings identify the buyer as an entity tied to Jack Guttman.
Size and brokers
Deal listings captured by Traded show the property totals about 129,068 square feet and traded at roughly $216 per square foot. The Traded entry names BrightSpire Capital as the seller and David Ratner of Douglas Elliman and Daniel O'Brien of Newmark as the brokers on the deal. Those figures help explain why market participants have been quick to label the sale a bargain for a transit-served office block.
How this compares to 2023
The price is a dramatic markdown from the roughly $64.3 million BrightSpire paid when it took control of the Paragon in 2023 after Related Companies handed the asset over amid loan trouble, per Bisnow. Pearl's purchase comes in at roughly 56% below that earlier trade, highlighting how mid-market office valuations have been re-set in recent years.
Pearl's buying pattern
Pearl Realty, led by Jack Guttman, has been active acquiring older office stock at re-priced levels, including other Long Island City and Gowanus purchases, according to transaction tracking by PincusCo. The firm's recent deals suggest a strategy of buying cash-flowing or repositionable properties that can be stabilized as demand for space recovers.
What it means for LIC
The Paragon sale fits a larger pattern in which investors are redeploying capital into re-priced office assets now that "price discovery" has created clearer entry points, as reported by Commercial Observer. Whether Pearl chooses to upgrade, re-tenant or explore a conversion at the site will be watched as a signal for how quickly Long Island City's office submarket can stabilize.
