Akelius is buyer of Fiorello LaGuardia’s former home

Akelius Real Estate Management is the buyer of the former East Harlem home of the late New York City mayor Fiorello LaGuardia.

The U.S. arm of the Swedish investment giant Akelius closed late last week on the $44.1 million purchase of a six-story rental building at 1274 Fifth Avenue, just east of Central Park at the corner of East 109th Street, sources told The Real Deal.

SL Green Realty announced in its quarterly earnings release last month that the real estate investment trust and Ofer Yardeni’s Stonehenge Partners had agreed to sell the six-story, 54-unit property to a then-unidentified buyer.

The 56,700-square-foot building is a mix of free-market and rent-stabilized tenants. Rosewood Realty Group’s Aaron Jungreis and Billy Billitzer, who brokered the deal, declined to comment, as did Akelius and the sellers.

Akelius, which in 2015 launched its New York operation led by Kunal Chothani, paid all-cash for the building, sources said. The company initially targeted heavily rent-stabilized buildings in Brooklyn but has increasingly added market-rate units in a flurry of recent Manhattan acquisitions. In August, Akelius paid a total of approximately $160 million for two adjacent Chelsea buildings and one in Gramercy.

Stonehenge purchased 1274 Fifth in 2003 for $11.9 million.

LaGuardia, who was mayor from 1934 to 1945, lived in an apartment at the property for part of that time. Instead of moving into Gracie Mansion after the inauguration, he spent eight years of his tenure at 1274 Fifth.