Yeshiva closes on two buildings for nearly $30M

University raises much-needed cash in sale of properties in Washington Heights

From left: 475 West 186th Street, the Yeshiva University logo and 90 Laurel Hill Terrace (Credit: PropertyShark)
From left: 475 West 186th Street, the Yeshiva University logo and 90 Laurel Hill Terrace (Credit: PropertyShark)

UPDATED, 5:58 p.m., May 29: Yeshiva University has sold two of its properties in Washington Heights, city records indicate.

The apartment building at 90 Laurel Hill Terrace was unloaded for almost $16 million, Thursday’s property records show. In addition, Yeshiva also sold a 61-unit apartment building at 475 West 186th Street for $13.8 million. Both buildings were bought by Cammeby’s International, a New York City real estate development firm owned by Ruby Schron.

A Yeshiva University spokesman did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Thursday.

The school is still struggling to gird its balance sheet after losing $100 million in Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. Madoff also served as a member of the university’s Board of Trustees. According to Bloomberg, the school generated annual deficits of $107.5 million in 2010, $46.7 million in 2011 and $105.9 million in 2012.

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The buildings, both six-story apartment buildings, were transferred to the new owner on May 21.

The transactions follow the announcement of the sale of ten apartment buildings at the university’s Wilf campus at 185th Street in March.

Yeshiva University President Richard Joel wrote on the school’s news blog in March that the sale of those buildings represented a “tremendous return on the University’s original investment.” He added that the sale provided an “infusion of cash that will be used to strengthen our financial position.”