$23.65M deal marks Harlem’s biggest single building sale of year

A 117-unit apartment building has sold for $23.65 million in the largest sale of a single building in Harlem so far this year, according to one of the co-brokers in the deal. The eight-story property, at 680 Saint Nicholas Avenue, between 145th and 141st streets, has studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and five retail tenants, according to the listing.

The building is the priciest sold so far this year in the Uptown market that was not part of a larger portfolio, according to CoStar. The building last traded hands in 2005, for $15.3 million, according to city records.

The apartments have a housing assistance payment contract in place until 2015, Peter Von Der Ahe, a vice president at Marcus & Millichap who co-brokered the sale , told The Real Deal.

The buyer was a “local operator,” according to Von Der Ahe, who represented the buyer and seller with colleagues Scott Edelstein and Seth Glasser. The sale has not yet appeared in public records.

The HAP contracts are correlated to the market, with the government guaranteeing payment of a portion of the rent, Von Der Ahe indicated. In 2015, the owner will have the opportunity to either renew the HAP contracts or the building can leave the program, he said. — Adam Pincus and Guelda Voien