From left: Archstone CEO Scot Sellers and 377 East 33rd Street (building credit: PropertyShark)While a bidding war has emerged for its portfolio, Archstone acquired a 209-unit Kips Bay apartment building for $131 million, the apartment investment firm announced today, and will rename it Archstone Kips Bay.
The building, at 377 East 33rd Street near First Avenue, had been owned by Madison International Realty and RFR Holding, which bought it for an undisclosed price in 2007, according to public records. The partnership took out a $100 million loan on the building from Anglo Irish Bank.
Madison and RFR were represented by a Cushman & Wakefield Sonnenblick Goldman team by Dave Karson, Helen Hwang and Nat Rockett.
“The ownership was not a seller entering the market and there was no shortage of capital opportunities around this asset, but Archstone has such a terrific track record and reputation that we felt compelled to explore a transaction with them,” Dave Karson said in a statement.
The acquisition marks Archstone’s 14th apartment complex in New York. The investment firm was taken private after a $22 billion purchase led by Lehman in 2007, and a large stake in it is now on the market. Sam Zell’s Equity Residential is a leading candidate to purchase it. — Adam Fusfeld