Here’s what the $10M-$20M NYC investment sales market looked like last week

Sterling Equities pays $17.9 million for a Crown Heights rental; Vornado Realty Trust buys a retail building in the Meatpacking District for $15 million.

408 West 15th Street in the Meatpacking District, Steven Roth and 1059 Union Street in Crown Heights
From left: 408 West 15th Street in the Meatpacking District, Steven Roth and 1059 Union Street in Crown Heights

1.) Sterling Equites is the new owner of a rental building at 1059 Union Street in Crown Heights, where tenants rallied against the previous landlord, BCB Management. Sterling paid $17.9 million for the five-story building, which holds 32 apartments and five commercial units. Debrah Lee Charatan and Bennat Charatan Berger’s BCB Property Management sold the building last year to entity listed as 829-835 Franklin Avenue Residences LLC for $13.2 million, not long after tenants alleged BCB was illegally converting apartments and attempting to evict residents.

2.) Newcastle Realty Services sold a rental building located at 854 West 180th Street to Michael Aryeh’s Heritage Realty for $16.8 million. More than half of the 49 apartments in the Washington Heights building are rent stabilized. Newcastle, led by Margaret Streicker Porres, paid $7.7 million for the building in 2012.

3.) Vornado Realty Trust snapped up a retail building adjacent to its planned office building at 61 Ninth Avenue in the Meatpacking District for $15 million. The real estate investment trust purchased the five-story converted warehouse at 408 West 15th Street from William Gottlieb Real Estate. It was formerly home to the iconic nightclub Crisco Disco in the 1970s and purchased by William Gottlieb in 1980. Vornado, in partnership with Aurora Capital Associates, acquired the long-term lease to 61 Ninth Avenue, the former Prince Lumber site, for $140 million in 2014. The pair is planning a 123,000-square-foot office building at the site.

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4.) In the Bronx, a 63-unit rent-regulated apartment at 777 Mace Avenue traded hands for $12.5 million. Bashkim Celaj, who was named one of the city’s worst landlords in 2014, purchased the property from Martin Shapiro. The building is six stories and spans 65,400 square feet on the corner of Wallace and Mace avenues. At the time Celaj was named worst landlord, he owned 10 buildings which held 1,379 violations, according to the annual ranking put out by Public Advocate Letitia James.

5.) A 13-unit rental at 497 Third Avenue in Midtown sold for $11.3 million. An entity listed as 497 MM Associates acquired the property from its longtime owner Cyril Clancy. The five-story building holds a pub on the ground floor, eight rent-regulated units and and four market rate apartments.

(Source: ACRIS data for closed sales between March 28-April 3, and Reonomy data)