Akelius buys Flatiron home of design nonprofit Van Alen Institute

Akelius Real Estate Management bought the longtime home of architecture nonprofit Van Alen Institute.

Akelius, the U.S. arm of one of Sweden’s largest real estate firms, paid $31.5 million to acquire 28 West 22nd Street, according to records filed with the city today. The seller is the Van Alen Institute, which was previously known as the National Institute for Architectural Education.

The Van Alen Institute acquired the property in 1981, records show. For nearly two decades, the organization operated out of the top floors of the six-story property. In 2013, it launched a design competition for a 1,620-square-foot space on the building’s ground floor.

Akelius plans to move into the building once the leases for the current tenants expire, according to Shelly Lee, the head of the firm’s North America operations. It will open its office in 2021, after it builds out the property. The company will be moving from its current location at 110 William Street in Lower Manhattan.

The transaction adds to Akelius’s deal sheet from the past six months. The firm bought 838 West End Avenue, a 68-unit apartment building in the Upper West Side, from Isaac Kassirer’s Emerald Equity Group last August. It also paid $30 million for 336 West 95th Street, a 44-unit residential property in the Upper West Side, last June.

Akelius owns 27 buildings in Manhattan and Brooklyn, according to its website. Its holdings include 427-433 Dean Street in Park Slope and 225 West 23rd Street in Chelsea.