Joel Gluck’s Spencer Equity is in contract to buy the Noonan Plaza affordable housing complex in the Bronx for $42 million, according to documents filed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
The seven-story, 335,000-square-foot property at 105 West 168th Street in the South Bronx’s Highbridge neighborhood includes 283 residential and eight retail units.
Spencer plans to sell majority ownership rights to a third party at a future date, while remaining as managing partner, entitled to development fees and income from the property.
Gluck is in talks to secure a $26 million loan from an unidentified bank and to extend the building’s Section 8 contract. The contract expires in April 2017, according to the documents. Currently, nearly all units are occupied by Section 8 tenants and rents range from from $1,125 for a studio to $1,760 for a three-bedroom, about 10 percent lower than the fair-market price, according to HUD data.
That setup is similar to another Section 8 deal Spencer Equity completed recently. The company acquired the development rights for a three-building, 326,646-square-foot Section 8 complex in Staten Island in July after negotiating with the federal housing department to increase rents. They plan to invest $20 million in renovations for the 362-unit complex at 141 Park Avenue.
The seller, Joel Leder, declined to comment. Spencer Equity was not immediately available for comment.
Gluck’s firm recently acquired two other HUD housing projects in the South Bronx. In August 2015, he purchased the Riverview Houses in Morris heights, a 383-unit multifamily housing complex at 1600 Sedgwick Avenue for $64 million, which was subsequently sold. In February, Gluck acquired Academy Gardens, an eight-building, 376,200-square-foot complex on Commonwealth Avenue from Leder for $67 million.
Gluck has successfully raised more than $150 million on the Israeli bond market. He is currently partnering with Simon Dushinsky’s Rabsky Group on 101 Varick Avenue. Gluck and developer Yoel Goldman reached a settlement late last year with Toby Moskovits over several property disputes.