Busy week in mid-market: Ben-Josef buys complex at $15M discount

UBS Realty Properties sold two residential towers in Clinton Hill for $40 million in separate transactions that represent a substantial markdown from the $55 million it paid for them in 2020. The buyer is Ben-Josef Group Holdings.

Located at 100 Steuben and 531 Myrtle, the neighboring towers, dubbed “Myrtle & Steuben,” combine for 72 residential units, one commercial unit, 13 floors and 66,000 square feet. The complex is a block from Pratt Institute.

Greystone Development bought the lots in 2014 for $12.5, finished construction on the towers in 2015 and flipped them to UBS Realty.

The deal highlighted last week’s investment sales in the middle market, defined as those between $10 million and $40 million. The rest are listed below, ranked by dollar amount.

Leaning experience. Two commercial units in Williamsburg were sold to a nonprofit for $19.1 million. Friends of Northwest Brooklyn, a subsidiary of Unity Preparatory Charter School of Brooklyn, purchased Unit 1 in 584 Driggs Avenue and Unit 2 in 590 Driggs Avenue. Joshua Beauregard signed for Unity Prep. Five entities are listed as the sellers. David Duke Dweck, who signed for one of them, purchased 584 Driggs along with 186 North Sixth Street in 2018 for $31.1 million. Boricua College was the previous owner.

School’s out. The prestigious all-girls school Marymount School of New York sold one of its campuses for $19 million to Albert Feinstein Real Estate. The landmark building, at 2 East 82nd Street on the Upper East Side, was built in 1898 and still contains the original flourishes. The six-floor, 12,000-square-foot property was originally a residence. Marymount, which listed the property for $32 million in 2019, acquired the deed in 1999.

Office ain’t dead. David Levy’s Adams & Company paid $16.5 million for the 8 percent it didn’t already own of a 12-story, 29-unit office building in Bryant Park. The building at 4 Bryant Park — with an alternative address of 1071 Sixth Avenue — is 174,000 square feet and was built in 1919. Seller Amberjack Partners acquired the stake for $10.1 million in 2019. Adams & Company acquired a 16.5 percent stake for $20.3 million last year.

Hotel exit. JDL Advisory paid $15 million for Hotel Jamaica Plaza in Queens. Developer Rajendra Patel, the seller, had paid $2.1 million for the lot in 2007 before building the 72-unit, 30,000-square-foot hotel on the lot in 2011. Jamaica residents protested as the hotel was being constructed, with one community board member calling the location, 89-34 162nd Street, “odd.” According to its website, JDL has hotels for sale off-market. In March, JDL bought a vacant lot in the Bronx for $6 million.

All in the multi-family. Bronstein Properties sold three apartment buildings in Queens for $14.5 million. Located at 94-05, 94-19 and 95-05 35th Avenue in Jackson Heights, the residences are each four floors and 33,000 square feet. They combine for 106 units. Bronstein paid $10.3 million for them in 2007. The buyer’s address is listed as a residence in Oyster Bay.

Condo cash-out. Yaron Jacobi’s Premier Equities sold a condo unit in a mixed-use building in the East Village for $14.25 million after paying $6.1 million for it in 2021. The address is 45 East Seventh Street, unit NRU. Steven Hagen, a partner at Miami law firm Harper Meyer, signed on behalf of the buyer, whose address traces back to the law firm. The building, seven floors with 21 residential units over 23,000 square feet, was constructed in 2019.

What brown can do for you. Derek Greenberg’s Green Street Group shelled out $14 million for a brownfield site in Greenpoint where an eight-story mixed-use building is under construction. The lot, at 1036 Manhattan Avenue, is 10,000 square feet, and 67 residences are planned. The seller is hotel operator ASH NYC, which filed permits for the building in 2020.

Industrious purchase. Adam Nagin’s Superior Management bought a six-story warehouse out of foreclosure in Long Island City. Nagin paid $12.4 million for the 41,000-square-foot property, located at 42-45 12th Street.

Trust in Gramercy. Bradley P. Bauer Revocable Trust shelled out $11.45 million for a four-floor, two-unit residential building in Gramercy Park. The building was constructed in 1910 and is 3,000 square feet. The seller, the East Asian Land Fund, paid $5.8 million for it in 2015. In 2017, neighbors sued East Asian over a construction project on the site, but both agreed to end the suit in 2020.

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