Fairstead, Blackstone shopping piece of Caiola portfolio

Four UES properties on the market less than a year after firms paid $690M for package

From left: Jonathan Gray, 449-451 East 83rd Street on the Upper East Side, Shimon Shkury and Victor Sozio
From left: Jonathan Gray, 449-451 East 83rd Street on the Upper East Side, Shimon Shkury and Victor Sozio

Despite frequently touting their multifamily investments as long-term plays, Fairstead Capital and Blackstone Group have placed a portion of the coveted 24-building Caiola portfolio on the market after less than a year, sources told The Real Deal.

The owners hired Ariel Property Advisors’ Shimon Shkury and Victor Sozio to market four Upper East Side buildings in the 979-unit Manhattan market-rate multifamily package they acquired in September for $690 million, sources said.

The portfolio is spread across Chelsea, Murray Hill and the Upper East Side. The four-building package includes a 19-story, 69-unit property at 449-451 East 83rd Street, sources said.

Representatives for Blackstone and Ariel Property Advisors declined to comment, while Fairstead could not be reached.

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In March, before Blackstone and Fairstead had retained a broker, the firms conducted an analysis of the portfolio’s total value, to see if it could fetch prices in the vicinity of $1,000 per square foot, or $800 million, as TRD reported.

The Caiola family acquired, and in many instances, developed the buildings over more than 30 years. After patriarch Benny Caiola died in 2010, his children took on the task of determining the fate of the buildings.

Aside from the Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village purchase, the Caiola portfolio deal was the largest New York City multifamily trade of 2015. Maryland-based Annaly Capital Management provided a $592 million acquisition loan for the deal.