New Jersey investors buy apartments in Brownsville Opportunity Zone for $14M

Deal equates $169K per unit

New Jersey investors buy apartments in Brownsville Opportunity Zone for $14M
Google Street View of the three-building apartment property at 5200 Northwest 26th Avenue (Google Maps)

An investment group led by Bowery Properties’ Thomas Neary sold apartments in a Brownsville Opportunity Zone for $14.2 million, nearly double their purchase price from two years ago.

The Thomas Fergus Trust, led by Neary and through an affiliate, sold the St. George Apartments at 5200 Northwest 26th Avenue to Lakewood, New Jersey-based 5200 NW 26 Ave I and 5200 NW Ave II, according to records. The first buying entity acquired an 83 percent interest in the property and the second entity acquired the remaining 17 percent.

The three, three-story buildings total 84 units on 1.6 acres, property records show. This means the deal equates to $169,048 per unit.

Jacob Serure of SRE Commercial Group was the broker on the deal.

Aaron Mueller, of Empire State Holdings, leads both buying entities. Yosef Michael and David Metzger lead 5200 26 Ave I. Michael also is with Empire State Holdings, and Metzger with Seven Stone Capital, according to their respective LinkedIn pages.

The buyers also secured a $12.5 million loan from Uniondale, New York-based Arbor Realty Trust, records show.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

The Neary-led investment group paid $7.6 million for the property in 2019. Serure closed that deal as well. The Neary group had started to renovate the older complex, constructed in 1958, soon after closing the deal. Zumper lists rents ranging from $1,350 to $1,550 a month.

The Opportunity Zone designation allows investors to qualify for tax benefits in the form of capital gains tax deferrals as long as they make significant real estate investments in the property.

The latest purchase comes amid a robust multifamily market, fueled by high demand from locals and South Florida newcomers. It has created enhanced investor appetite for properties, prompting many to look into older buildings, as well as to develop new buildings.

Rents have made an unprecedented turnaround this year from last, when they either stayed flat or dropped throughout South Florida, with some submarkets now posting a 24 percent increase.

In another recent Opportunity Zone deal, Chicago-based Trilogy Real Estate Group bought a potential development site in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood for $12.5 million.