VE Equities unloads Seaport rentals for $23M

Developer VE Equities, led by Zach Vella and Justin Ehrlich, sold a six-story rental building in Lower Manhattan for $23 million, The Real Deal has learned.

The 27,000-square-foot property at 257 Water Street, also known as 23 Peck Slip, holds 20 market-rate units and ground-floor retail space occupied by Mark Joseph Steakhouse and Acqua Restaurant & Wine Bar.

The deal includes air rights for a possible building expansion. VE paid $16.8 million for the property in 2012, records show.

The identity of the seller, a private New York-based investor, was not disclosed. But there are no plans at this time to reposition the site, said Jeff Fishman, president of investment sales and advisory services at RKF.

“The buyer sees lots of upside in the [South Street] Seaport area,” Fishman told The Real Deal.

A team of RKF brokers, including Fishman, Patricia Garcia and Jonathan Butwin, represented both the buyer and the seller. RKF also represented VE last year in the sale of the retail condominium at 250 Bowery to David Edelstein’s Tristar Capital for $15.8 million, as previously reported.

VE is developing a nine-story condominium building 11 North Moore Street in Tribeca that launched sales via Instagram in October.