Phoenix Realty acquires trio of Bronx Mitchell Lama buildings

Investor plans to rehab 600-plus units with HDC financing

2405 and 2459 Southern Boulevard in the Bronx
2405 and 2459 Southern Boulevard in the Bronx

The Phoenix Realty Group will renovate a trio of Mitchell Lama apartment buildings in the Bronx through an agreement with the city affordable housing corporation that will allow the investor to raise rents at the buildings.

The Midtown-based firm paid a total of $55.9 million to take control of the Keith and Kelly Towers in the Belmont neighborhood by acquiring a pair of ground leases from the DeMatteis Organization, property records filed Friday with the city show.

DeMatteis, headquartered on Long Island, has controlled the leasehold on the properties (at 2459-2481, 2371-2375 and 2401-2413 Southern Boulevard) since 1973, when it signed a lease with the New York City Education Construction Fund.

The lease originally ran through 2048 and property records indicate that it was recently modified, though the public documents do not disclose the changes.

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Phoenix plans to rehabilitate more than 600 units in the three buildings through an agreement with the New York City Housing Development Corporation, which provided the firm with $64.73 million in construction and permanent financing for the project, records show.

A spokesperson for Phoenix Realty declined to comment.

In late 2014, DeMatteis sold an affordable housing complex in Brownsville, Brooklyn to L+M Development for $98 million.