Dune Real Estate Partners has purchased the loan for a portfolio of 36 apartment houses on the Upper West Side for close to $105.1 million — a 45 percent discount — Crain’s reported.
According to numbers provided by real estate analytics firm Trepp, the loan is valued at $192.1 million. The buildings concerned, which house a total of 1,083 units, were bought by controversial landlord the Pinnacle Group with the Praedium Group during the real estate boom. Pinnacle alone was thought to have purchased $1 billion in distressed buildings in Upper Manhattan and parts of the Bronx between 2004 and 2006, coming under extensive criticism for attempts to hike rents after allegedly fudging capital improvements.
Pinnacle, which once returned $1 million to tenants under pressure from the New York State attorney general’s office, is in the midst of a class-action lawsuit with residents of its buildings. Last year, Pinnacle controlled more than 400 buildings, but things could change as foreclosures advance. Sources told Crain’s the loan Dune just purchased had been underwater for over a year.
Dune, which is run by alumni of Goldman’s Whitehall fund led by Daniel Neidich, bought the loan for the Mark Hotel on the Upper East Side earlier this year, and is an investor for the trendy Ace and Standard hotels. [Crain’s]