HUBBNYC pays $105M for Harlem apartment building

Target and Trader Joe’s plan to open stores nearby

HUBBNYC president John McCarthy and 56 West 125th Street (J Frankl Architects)
HUBBNYC president John McCarthy and 56 West 125th Street (J Frankl Architects)

Harlem’s 125th Street has epitomized the real estate industry’s confidence in New York City’s recovery, with retailers including Target and Trader Joe’s committing to open stores on the busy corridor.

Now one of the street’s newest apartment buildings has traded hands for more than $100 million, a sign of the buyer’s optimism for the street.

HUBBNYC paid $105 million for the 141-unit rental and retail building at 56 West 125th Street, a representative for the company told The Real Deal. The seller is Brooklyn-based Jay Group, which recently finished the 17-story building.

The retail portion is fully leased and the apartments — 46 of which are income-restricted — are in the process of being leased up.

Harlem’s 125th Street, which has long been the main commercial corridor for the northern Manhattan neighborhood, has been drawing a lot of attention from developers and investors.

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Jay Group bought its development site, between Fifth Avenue and Malcolm X Boulevard, in 2018 for $26.5 million and secured a 35-year property tax break under the state’s Affordable New York program. The seller, which could not be immediately reached for comment, negotiated directly with HUBB in the off-market sale.

The building is just steps away from the new development at 121 West 125th Street where Target and Trader Joe’s plan to open stores.

In East Harlem, the Hakimian Organization and Certes Partners earlier this year landed a $59 million construction loan for a 113-unit rental building at 212 East 125th Street.

In Brooklyn, HUBB, led by managing director Jesse Terry, paid nearly $84 million early last year for a 136-unit, mixed-use apartment building in Williamsburg at 123 Hope Street.