CalPERS sells UES rental complex to Menin’s Crescent Heights For $230M

A partnership between the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the largest private pension fund in the U.S., and investment management company GID has sold an Upper East Side rental complex it acquired in 2006, The Real Deal has learned exclusively.

The partnership acquired the 152-unit, 20-story property, known as the Westminster, for $154 million seven years ago as part of a larger deal which included 200 East 62nd Street.

The buyer of the property, Miami-based developer Crescent Heights, confirmed the deal today but would not comment on the price.  CalPERS did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Crescent Heights, headed by investor Bruce Menin, has been in acquisition mode in New York in recent months. In June, the company paid $120 million, or $605 a foot, for a nearly 200-unit Upper West Side rental building at 752 West End Avenue from a partnership of David Bistricer’s Clipper Equity and family-owned investment company Rieder Holdings. The partnership had been in the midst of converting the property to condominiums.

Crescent’s plans for the 66th Street building, located between Third and Lexington avenues, were not immediately clear.

The property totals 241,334 square feet, according to data from PropertyShark. It was designed by architect Rosario Candela and has a 24-hour doorman, a fitness center and a landscaped garden. The unit mix includes apartments ranging from studios to four-bedroom apartments, listings website StreetEasy shows.

There were no brokers involved in the deal, which closed last week, according to a spokesperson for Crescent.