Black Spruce buys Bed-Stuy rentals for $39M

Black Spruce Management picked up a pair of Bedford-Stuyvesant rental buildings on Spencer Street for a combined $39 million, sources said.

The six-story elevator properties at 175-183 and 186-200 Spencer Street sit across the street from each other. Together, they span 81,000 square feet and hold 82 apartments. The apartments are largely one- and two-bedroom units ranging in size from 700 to 1,100 square feet.

Black Spruce, a Midtown-based investment firm led by Josh Gotlib, plans to keep the buildings as rentals. They were constructed as high-end condominiums. In the mid-2000s, developer Abraham Wieder defaulted on a construction loan from the Bank of Smithtown and opted to build rentals on the sites instead, sources said.

Chicago-based investment firm Waterton Associates then acquired both buildings in 2011, records show. The properties benefit from a 25-year 421a tax abatement that expires in 2034.

Westwood Realty Associates’ Steven Vegh, a broker on the pending $160 million-plus deal for 47 Hall Street in Clinton Hill, could not be reached for comment.

This summer, Black Spruce was the dominant buyer of Normandy Real Estate Partners and Westbrook Partners’ 42-building “Three Borough Pool” multifamily portfolio, spanning the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan.

Waterton Residential has also been busy. The subsidiary is actively seeking buyers for 88 Leonard Street, a 21-story, 352-unit Tribeca rental building it picked up for $210 million in 2011. Waterton hopes to fetch $300 million for the property.