NJ-based Orbach Group pays $246M for UWS portfolio

The New Jersey-based real estate investment company the Orbach Group purchased a 33-building residential apartment package on the Upper West Side for $246 million yesterday from a joint venture of Heritage Real Estate Partners and Dune Real Estate Partners, the buyer told The Real Deal.

The portfolio includes 1,031 apartment units and one store in properties such as the 20-unit 65 West 107th Street and the 10-unit 125 West 106th Street.

The sale is a boon for Heritage and Dune, headed by CEO Jeremy Markowitz and Daniel Neidich, respectively. The companies picked up the portfolio after buying the defaulted note in November 2011 for approximately $120 million, insiders close to the deal said.

The loan servicer LNR sold the note on the properties that had been owned by a joint venture of Pinnacle Group and Praedium Group, which lost the property after they defaulted on the loan with a $192 million face value.

The acquisition continues the Orbach Group’s buying streak in the neighborhood. This summer they acquired 933 Amsterdam Avenue on the Upper West Side for $13 million.

“The portfolio fits with our long-term investment strategy and adds to our existing large portfolio on the Upper West Side,” a spokesperson for the Orbach Group said in a statement.

Heritage declined to comment.

Aaron Jungreis, president of the brokerage Rosewood Realty Group, represented the Orbach Group in the off-market transaction. This is the largest deal Jungreis has ever closed.

“The areas have changed tremendously, and have been gentrified. [In addition, the sellers] put a lot of money into the properties,” Jungreis said, explaining the increase in value over the past two years in the portfolio.