Isaac Kassirer is buying a 21-building multifamily portfolio in Harlem

E&M was said to be planning a long-term hold, but is selling after three years

Isaac Kassirer, 204 West 133rd Street and 2484 Seventh Avenue
Isaac Kassirer, 204 West 133rd Street and 2484 Seventh Avenue

The uptown fiefdom continues. Isaac Kassirer is in contract to acquire a 21-building portfolio in Harlem from multifamily giant E&M Associates for $85 million, The Real Deal has learned.

The deal would be one of the few sizable multifamily packages to trade hands in New York City in the past year, let alone in Manhattan.

The package consists of 224 rental apartments across 21 walk-up buildings, most of which have frontage on Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard. Irving Langer’s E&M bought them for $66.7 million in 2014 from Denver-based real estate investment trust AIMCO.

At the time of E&M’s purchase, a source told the Commercial Observer the firm was planning a “long-term hold.” But long term this was not.

Kassirer’s Emerald Equity Group signed a contract late last year. The deal is expected to close at roughly $380,000 per unit.

The package spans 215,000 square feet across three city blocks, and includes 30 retail stores. Addresses include 2247 and 2484 Seventh Avenue; 204 and 306 West 133rd Street; and 2247-2253, 2300-2310, 2252-2258 Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

Westwood Realty Associates’ Steven Vegh

Westwood Realty Associates’ Steven Vegh is brokering the deal, which is slated to close in the next two months.

Kassirer and Vegh declined to comment, and E&M could not be reached.

The 35-year-old Kassirer has been on a tear since emerging on the multifamily scene in 2014. In the past few months, he has struck deals to buy at least seven buildings on the Upper West Side and in Harlem for a combined $225 million,and to sell at least 15 Bronx buildings for $65 million.

If it were to close, the 21-building Harlem package would be biggest one Kassirer has acquired since December 2016, when he picked up the 47-building Dawnay Day portfolio in East Harlem for $357.5 million.