Crest buys Carnegie Hill rental for $39M

Montreal-based investor plans to up average rents to as much as $7K a month

118 East 93rd Street in Carnegie Hill (inset: Bruno Caruso)
118 East 93rd Street in Carnegie Hill (inset: Bruno Caruso)

Crest Realties picked up a nine-story Carnegie Hill rental building for $39 million, or roughly $870 per square foot, the Montreal-based multifamily investment firm told The Real Deal.

The 43,000-square-foot elevator building at 118 East 93rd Street contains 38 apartments, the majority of them market-rate. Lazar Gazivoda, a private investor, has owned it for more than 40 years, property records show.

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From left: Peter Von Der Ahe and Joseph Koicim

Crest, led by Bruno Caruso and Aaron Drazin, plans to increase the average rents at the building from $3,000 per month to $6,500 or $7,000 per month as units become vacant. Currently, all but five apartments are occupied.

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“We want to upgrade it to a luxury, high-end rental,” Caruso said.

The property, located between Park and Lexington avenues, is part of the expanded Carnegie Hill Historic District.

Marcus & Millichap’s [TRData] Peter Von Der Ahe, Joseph Koicim, David Lloyd and Danny Handweiler represented both sides in the deal, which closed Thursday.

Crest has been largely in selling mode for the past year, having sold a Carroll Gardens condo-to-rental conversion for $21.1 million and a four-building Washington Heights portfolio for $31.2 million.