UPDATED, 12:03 p.m., Dec. 31: A collection of 17 properties clustered within two city blocks in the center of Williamsburg that includes a large retail component will likely sell for about $80 million, a broker marketing the property said.
The late real estate investor Mike Lee, who died in 2006 at the age of 69, assembled the 13 buildings and four lots starting in the 1960s, a review of city records shows. The portfolio is composed of four clusters of Buildings Between North 6th And North 7th Streets And Berry Street and Kent Avenue. The addresses are 129 and 131 Kent Avenue, 161 and 168 Wythe Avenue, 130 Berry Street, 104-108 North 7th Street, 51 North 6th Street, 81-91 North 6th Street and 111-115 North 6th Street.
The package of mostly retail and residential properties includes three corner retail buildings, as well as 300 feet of retail along North 6th Street. Within that, the properties at 81-89 North 6th, the former home of the grocery store Tops on the Waterfront, is vacant and has a total of 10,000 square feet of vacant ground floor. There are 22 apartments, most of which are free market, according to the marketing information.
Eastern Consolidated’s Adelaide Polsinelli and Benjamin Tapper have the exclusive listing, Tapper said. A representative of the landlord said no one was available to comment.
The buildings are in an area of Brooklyn experiencing a rapid change in the retail landscape. RedSky Capital purchased two development sites for $40 million a block to The East On Bedford Avenue for what were reported as record prices per square foot for Williamsburg. And Apple is expected to open a store at 247 Bedford Avenue, at the corner of North 3rd Street.
Lee’s wife Ulla died this year and the couple had no children, so the estate is being sold. sources familiar with the sale said.
The city honored Lee with a street sign at the corner of North 6th Street and Wythe Avenue in 2008, saying, “he dedicated his personal life and business life to improving Williamsburg.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story said the portfolio would likely sell for about $70 million, but in fact the seller believes it will likely trade for about $80 million.