Akelius picks up Gramercy rental for $168M

In its third and largest New York City buy yet, Akelius Real Estate Management paid $167.5 million for the Petersfield, a 17-story rental building in the Gramercy Park neighborhood, The Real Deal has learned.

The U.S. arm of Swedish investment firm Akelius Residential Property has been ramping up its New York City property deals – this time, for a 199-unit, 185,000-square-foot property at 301 East 21st Street.

The Tausik family owned the rental building, also known as 362-372 Second Avenue, for nearly 70 years. Most of the apartments are market-rate, with rent ranging from $1,650 to $4,000 per month, according to StreetEasy. There are 54 rent-regulated units.

Ground-floor retail tenants include Pushcart Coffee, Hollywood Salon and yoga center Nirvana Wellness.

The deal was brokered by a CBRE team led by Darcy Stacom and Paul Leibowitz. The brokers could not be reached for comment.

Elsewhere in the neighborhood, Samy Mahfar’s SMA Equities bought two buildings at 297 and 299 Third Avenue and actor Jim Parson acquired a penthouse at 36 Gramercy Park East.

Akelius specializes in long-term holds on multifamily assets.

“We will not be pursuing buyouts,” said Kunal Chothani, an executive at Akelius.

In the past month, the firm also closed on the purchases of two Crown Heights buildings and a three-building Lower East Side complex.