BCB lists W’burg portfolio for $50M

Trio of buildings has 101 units, most of which are stabilized

From left: 218 South 3rd Street, 373 South 4th Street, Bennat Berger and 380 South 4th Street
From left: 218 South 3rd Street, 373 South 4th Street, Bennat Berger and 380 South 4th Street

BCB Property Management has listed another apartment portfolio for sale.

The company is looking to sell a trio of Williamsburg apartment buildings at 218 South 3rd Street, 373 South 4th Street and 380 South 4th Street with an asking price of $50 million, Crain’s reported.

Combined, the properties have 101 residential units – 68 of which are stabilized – and one retail space. Most of the apartments are in the building at 218 South 3rd Street, which has a J-51 tax abatement in place that requires the apartments to be rent regulated. The company bought the building last year for $12.7 million.

BCB is run by Debrah Lee Charatan and her son Bennat Berger, who said the portfolio should draw lots of interest due to proximity to the J, M and Z subway lines, and the fact that south Williamsburg has seen little new product added in recent years.

“South Williamsburg is one of the few submarkets where there is rent growth today,” Berger said. “This is an opportunity for someone to buy a portfolio and add value.”

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TerraCRG’s [TRDataCustom] Adam Hess, who is marketing the portfolio, said the $50 million asking price works out to a roughly 4 percent return on investment, adding that profits should slowly rise as regulated units transition to market-rate over time.

“BCB did a nice job renovating the existing free market apartments in these buildings,” he said. “They realized they had come to a good juncture to sell, at a moment when there is still future upside for the next buyer.”

BCB has been snapping up properties at a rapid clip in recent years.

Recently, though, BCB has been an active seller. Earlier this year the firm sold a trio of rental buildings in Crown Heights for about $40 million. Last month, the company put a six-building Upper West Side and Morningside Heights portfolio on the market for $125 million. [Crain’s]Rich Bockmann