With sales slow, Harlem developer sells condo project for $22.5 million

After a four-year effort to sell units at a recession-hit Harlem condo, the project’s developer has offloaded the entire building.

A UBS fund bought the ground lease for the 46-unit building at 2130 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard from developer Cogswell Realty, which had been marketing the building for sale as individual units under the name 2130 ACP. The building has turned rental under its new ownership, sources told The Real Deal.

According to public records filed with the city on Friday, an LLC named UBS Realty Investors bought the ground lease for the building for $22.5 million. The units were being marketed as condos by Halstead Property Development Marketing.

The fee interest appears to be owned by Harlem Commonwealth Council; the council has owned the land since 1997, records show.

Robin Schneiderman, director of new Business development at Halstead Property Development Marketing, was responsible for putting the deal together.

Cogswell initially began pre-selling units from floor plans at the building in 2008, but later suspended sales until construction could be completed. Sales recommenced in November 2011 but were slow, sources said. The building has one-, two- and three-bedroom units ranging in size from 533 to 1,508 square feet. The building’s amenities include a club room, a fitness center and part-time attended lobby and virtual concierge.

Nearly 20 percent of the units in contract before the deal for the ground lease was completed, Terra Development Marketing President Steve Kliegerman told The Real Deal. The developer had not yet declared the offering plan effective, and therefore was able to return buyers’ deposits and compensate them for their legal fees.

A UBS spokesperson was not reachable for comment.