Praedium Group acquires UWS buildings for $17M

A package of four apartment buildings on the Upper West Side sold for $17 million to private equity firm the Praedium Group, city records filed today show. The five-story, mixed-use buildings are located at 176-182 82nd Street, at Amsterdam Avenue. The seller was a foreign entity called Navistone Amsterdam LLC, which bought the properties for $18.7 million in May of 2008, with plans to convert the 30,000-square-foot property to condominiums.

In the past, Praedium has partnered with notorious landlord the Pinnacle Group, which bought up an estimated $1 billion in distressed buildings in Upper Manhattan and parts of the Bronx in the two-year period before the crash. Together Pinnacle–Praedium was one of New York City’s largest landlords, and also one of the most controversial. Pinnacle came under public scrutiny for allegedly jacking up rents after false claims that they had made major capital improvements at their buildings.

The partnership’s aggressive bids came home to roost last year, when the Pinnacle ended up in talks with Lehman Brothers Holdings over how to keep portions of the massive portfolio it nabbed in sunnier days with investment from Praedium. Pinnacle was behind on payments for a $51 million loan from Lehman, published reports show.

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Praedium, which focuses on under-performing and undervalued assets, also purchased 109 Gold Street in Brooklyn, earlier this year. The building converted to rental shortly after.

Praedium declined to comment; Navistone Amsterdam could not be reached for comment.