Trades of residential buildings dominated the Bronx’s investment sales market in the beginning of 2017, building on last year’s trend in which more than half of the $3.3 billion invested in the borough came from residential developments.
According to data from Real Capital Analytics, seven of the 10 biggest investment sales deals in the first quarter of this year were for residential buildings, with the three largest purchases being multifamily apartment buildings.
The borough’s biggest sale by a wide margin was MDG Design + Construction’s $78.1 million purchase of Michelangelo Apartments , a 498-unit Apartment Building On East 149th Street. That deal was roughly $40 million more than the second largest sale in the Bronx, which was Medallion Corporation’s $38.1 million purchase of the 222-unit 1511 Sheridan Avenue.
However, the Michelangelo deal was still significantly cheaper than its counterparts in Brooklyn and Queens, where the biggest sales for the first quarter were Kushner Companies, LIVWRK and RFR Realty’s $600 million purchase of Dumbo Heights, and Fidelis Care’s $140 million purchase of the 11-story office building it rented from the LeFrak Organization in Rego Park . In fact, the Kushner-led deal was more expensive than the top 10 first quarter sales in the Bronx combined.
Other significant deals in the Bronx during the first quarter of the year included the sale of the Beth Abraham Nursing Home in Allerton and notorious landlord Ved Parkash’s purchase of 11 West 172nd Street, which was recorded on Feb. 16, right after a controversy erupted over a tenant at one of his building’s contracting leptospirosis, a rare disease transmitted by rat urine.
See which Bronx buildings made the top 10 sales for the first quarter of 2017 below:
1. Michelangelo Apartments, $78.1 million
Buyer: MDG Design + Construction
Seller: BSR Management Corp
The biggest deal in the Bronx for the first quarter of 2017 was the roughly $78 million purchase of 225-255 East 149th St. in Melrose, a 25-story rental property containing 498 residential units and 22 commercial units. The transaction between MDG and BSR took place in March, although details of the sale did not become public until mid-April.
2. 1511 Sheridan Ave., approximately $38.1 million
Buyer: Medallion Corporation
Seller: Benzion Kohn
Brokerage: Westwood Realty Associates
The apartment building at 1511-1521 Sheridan Ave. near Claremont Park was sold in March for the third time in two years. Normandy Real Estate Partners sold it for $24 million in 2015 to Black Spruce Management, which then flipped it to Brooklyn landlord Benzion Kohn in February 2016 for $34.7 million. It changed hands again in March, going from Kohn to Medallion Corporation for $38.1 million. The eight-story structure was last renovated in 2006 and contains 220 units.
3. Skyview Apartments, approximately $35 million
Buyer: ABC Properties
Seller: Aries Management
The third biggest sale in the Bronx during the first quarter of 2017 was also residential housing, with Aries Management selling its Skyview Apartment complex in Riverdale to ABC Properties for $35 million. The development consists of three 20-story buildings with a total of 176 units, and the complex features amenities including an Olympic-sized pool, a quarter-acre dog run and two tennis courts.
4. Shops at Bruckner Boulevard, $32 million
Buyer: Urban Edge
Seller: Forest City Realty Trust
The first retail deal to crack the top 10 in the Bronx for the first quarter of 2017 was Forest City Realty Trust’s sale of the Shops at Bruckner Boulevard to Urban Edge Properties for $32 million. Despite its name, the complex is actually located at 1910 Story Avenue in Soundview, and its retail tenants include AT&T, GNC, Pick Quick Foods, Furniture World and Easy Pickins.
5. ABC Carpet and Home (Unit A & B), $28.3 million
Buyer: Prologis
Seller: ABC Carpets
Brokerage: CBRE
The industrial real estate firm Prologis purchased — what else? — industrial space in Soundview from ABC Carpet at 1055 Bronx River Ave. early in 2017 for $28.3 million. Jerome Weinrib, the head of ABC Carpets and the property owner, died in 2016, and the company shuttered its Bronx River Avenue location after determining it was no longer viable. ABC Carpets signed a lease for a new warehouse in Industry City at the end of March.
6. 1765 Townsend Avenue, $26 million
Buyer: Black Spruce Properties
Seller: Gigi Porcelli
Brokerage: Cushman and Wakefield
Josh Gotlib’s Black Spruce Management grabbed this 99-unit residential building in Morris Heights for $26 million in February. The structure stands 11 stories and encompasses 88,227 square feet. It was last renovated in 2007. Although Black Spruce focuses mainly on properties in the Bronx and Brooklyn, it has made recent moves in Manhattan as well, purchasing sets of 14 buildings in Hell’s Kitchen and Chelsea last summer.
7. Beth Abraham Center, approximately $25 million
Buyer: Daryl Hagler
Seller: Centerlight Health System
The seventh largest sale in the Bronx during the first quarter was a nursing home in Allerton, which Centerlight Health System sold for $25 million in March.
8. 1229 Franklin Avenue, $12 million
Buyer: Skyc Management
Seller: Normandy RE Partners
Skyc Management’s Sam Applegrad purchased this 54-unit mixed-use building in Claremont Village for $12 million in February. The six-story property features 56 apartments, 45 of which are rent-regulated, and six commercial units. Applegrad has been upping his portfolio in the Bronx and also purchased the 135-unit Palmer Court Homes in the borough in 2016.
9. 2710 Morris Avenue, approximately $11.1 million
Buyer: City Skyline Realty
Seller: Victor Fein
Fein Property Management sold this rent-stabilized building in Kingsbridge Heights in March for about $11.1 million to City Skyline Realty. The building was constructed in 1928 and contains 61 units.
10. 11 West 172nd Street, $10.5 million
Buyer: Ved Parkash
Seller: Isaac Herskovitz
Notorious landlord Ved Parkash added another Bronx building to his portfolio in February, purchasing 11 West 172nd Street from Isaac Herskovitz for $10.5 million. His new building in Claremont is six stories tall and contains 66 units.