Orbach sells three Upper Manhattan rental buildings

The Orbach Group sold three Upper Manhattan walk-up rental buildings with a combined 41 apartments for $21 million, the firm told The Real Deal.

Castellan Real Estate Partners [TRDataCustom] bought the 16-unit building at 309 West 111th Street for roughly $8.8 million. Zada Realty bought 627 West 113th Street, which has 10 apartments, for $5.1 million. An unknown buyer bought the third piece of the package, a 15-unit building at 109 West 105th Street, for $6.8 million.

“These sales are consistent with our long-term strategy to sell off smaller, non-core assets and focus on larger purchases and grow our affordable housing,” said Meyer Orbach, chair of the New Jersey-based Orbach Group.

Orbach has been an active investor in Upper Manhattan for a number of years. In 2013, the New Jersey-based firm bought a 33-building residential multifamily portfolio in the area for $246 million. That same year it spent $70 million on three properties in Harlem.  In July, Orbach paid $26 million to the Wick Holding Corp. for a 49-unit building at 50 Manhattan Avenue on the Upper West Side.

Midtown-based Castellan, is planning a long-term hold for the 111th Street property, said CEO Rick Serrapica. In 2015, the company was found to be using intimidation tactics in order to empty rent-stabilized buildings, like demanding proof of citizenship from immigrant tenants.

Zada Realty, a family-owned investment firm based in Great Neck, has a number of buildings in Midtown, Including 245 Third Avenue and 234 Eighth Avenue. Danny Zada, the firm’s president, said this is the first time the firm has invested in Morningside Heights, and that they plan to hold onto it long term.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Hall Oster, Teddy Galligan and Bryan Smadbeck represented Orbach in the sale of the 111th and 113th Street properties. Rosewood Realty Group’s Aaron Jungreis represented Orbach in the sale of the 105th Street property.