Madison Realty Capital to pay $135M for massive Rego Park rental

In nabe's biggest-ever I-sales deal, firm is buying Saxon Hall from Treetop Development

From left: Treetop Development's Adam Mermelstein, Madison Realty's Josh Zegen and Westwood Realty's Steven Vegh
From left: Treetop Development's Adam Mermelstein, Madison Realty's Josh Zegen and Westwood Realty's Steven Vegh

Madison Realty Capital is in contract to buy Saxon Hall, a 420-unit rental building in Queens’ Rego Park neighborhood, for about $135 million, sources told The Real Deal. The deal looks to be the largest investment sales transaction in the history of Rego Park. 

The seller, New Jersey-based Treetop Development, paid $85.3 million in 2013 for the 16-story, 503,000-square-foot property, located at 62-60 99th Street. Treetop renovated dozens of the apartments and put the building on the market in October for about $150 million.

Representatives for Madison declined to comment. Westwood Realty Associates’ Steven Vegh, who brokered the transaction, couldn’t immediately be reached. The deal, which is set to close in the spring, comes in at about $268 per square foot.

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The property has a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units, both rent-stabilized and market-rate. Market-rate rents range from $1,925 to about $3,350 per month, according to StreetEasy. Madison plans to continue to upgrade the apartments and the building’s common spaces, sources familiar with the deal said.

Though this is Madison’s first major purchase in Rego Park, the firm has been active in the neighborhood as a lender on properties such as Millennium 99, Tuhsur Development’s condominium project. Elsewhere in the city, the firm, led by Josh Zegen, Brian Shatz and Adam Tantleff, is in contract to buy a 289-unit Midtown East rental known as the Buchanan.

Rego Park is increasingly attracting institutional players enthused by the influx of young professionals to the area. Vornado Realty Trust recently developed the 312-unit Alexander at 61-55 Junction Boulevard — atop its Rego Center mall — where studios are asking monthly rents of more than $2,000. Other projects in the works include Woodmere Development’s rental at 65-70 Austin Street and Kenny Liu’s 50-unit condo at 97-45 63rd Drive.