Lightstone nears deal for Bronx portfolio

Lightstone near deal to acquire $53M Bronx portfolio

Mitchell Hochberg and the Bronx portfolio
Mitchell Hochberg and the Bronx portfolio

The Lightstone Group is making a push into the Bronx’s multifamily market with another multi-building purchase.

The developer is about to sign a hard contract to pick up a 223-unit package near the Pelham Parkway in the Bronx’s northeast neighborhood Bronxdale for $53 million, sources told The Real Deal.

The package, billed in marketing materials as the “Pelham Parkway Portfolio,” spans almost 234,000 square feet. The prewar elevator buildings, located in a three-block radius, have the addresses of 2197-2199 and 2198 Cruger Avenue and 2180 Bronx Park East.

Marketing materials show the portfolio generates about $3.6 million in gross revenue and has an estimated net operating income of $1.5 million.

The owner, Bronx River Management Corporation, put the buildings on the market earlier this year with an asking price of $55 million. A Cushman & Wakefield team led by Bob Knakal, Robert Shapiro and Jonathan Squires is representing the seller in the deal.

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The brokers declined to comment and Lightstone could not be reached.

Property records show Ben Shaoul’s Magnum Real Estate Group signed a contract for the buildings in April, but sources say he is no longer involved.

Just two months ago, Lightstone, led by David Lichtenstein and Mitchell Hochberg, closed on the $51 million purchase of four Bronx buildings from Belmar Realty Corp.

The Pelham portfolio deal’s price per unit would be around $238,000. North Bronx multifamily deals in 2017 and 2018 so far have averaged $230,000 per door, according to Hodges Ward Elliott data. Deals on the higher end include the sales of 2408 and 2420 Webster Avenue in March for $273,529 per unit and 1835 Needham Avenue in December for $256,383 per unit.