Kushner snaps up Brooklyn Law School portfolio for $36.5M

Pounces on six multi-family properties after deals with two other possible purchasers unraveled

From left: Jared Kushner, Stephen Palmese and 89 Hicks Street
From left: Jared Kushner, Stephen Palmese and 89 Hicks Street

Jared Kushner’s Kushner Companies has inked a deal to buy a multi-family portfolio in Brooklyn Heights from the Brooklyn Law School for $36.5 million, The Real Deal has learned.

The portfolio is comprised of six multi-family properties, at 89 Hicks Street18 Sidney Place144 Willow Street100 Pierrepont Street27 Monroe Place, and 38 Monroe Place.

Massey Knakal Realty Services broker Stephen Palmese marketed the portfolio on behalf of the Brooklyn Law School. The asking price for the properties was $41.15 million.

Other prospective purchasers had contracts on the property at $41 million and $40 million. But both deals ultimately fell through, a source close to the deal told The Real Deal. Kushner acted quickly and did a no due-diligence, hard deposit deal at $36.5 million earlier today.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

The law school started acquiring the buildings in the 1980s. They have a combined 110 residential apartments and approximately 56,342 gross square feet. The units are 90 percent vacant.

“Today, Brooklyn Law School executed a contract and accepted a deposit for the sale of six of our smaller properties,” Nick Allard, dean of the law school, told TRD via email. “The Board of Trustees authorized the sale because with a smaller student body we need fewer apartments to meet the housing needs of our students.”

The school decided to liquidate assets at this “opportune time in the real estate market,” he said.

Massey Knakal was not immediately available for comment. Kushner declined to comment on the deal.

The deal is the latest in Brooklyn for Kushner, who acquired a 46-unit rental building at 50 North 1st Street in Williamsburg for $33.8 million last year.