NYU buys Verbena’s Kips Bay rentals for $210M

New York University’s sprawling medical campus on Manhattan’s East Side has claimed a high-end apartment building in Kips Bay.

NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine sewed up a deal to buy the Lanthian, a 23-story doorman building with 209 units at 377 East 33rd Street, for a relatively high $210 million. 

The seller was Dennis Wong’s Verbena Road Holdings, which was reported in March as seeking north of $170 million for the property. The medical school has an agreement through 2038 to lease more than 20,000 square feet of commercial space.

“We intend to utilize the residential units to house faculty, staff, and trainees,” said a representative of NYU Langone. “The purchase will also enable NYU Langone to dispose of third-party leased units in and around the neighborhood.”

NYU took over a mortgage on the building from New York Life, which may have contributed to bidding up the price on the asset. Assumable mortgages that can pass on a low interest rate have recently proven a selling point as multifamily investors seek refuge from a high-rate environment.

Eastdil Secured, which marketed the property, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. New York Life obtained the loan from failed Signature Bank in 2019, records show.

Leasing at the Lanthian has been suspended, according to a representative of Greystar, which manages the building and recently took down the multifamily property’s website. Vicki Match Suna, a real estate development executive for NYU Langone, signed for the buyer. 

Match Suna, a REBNY member and former commissioner of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, has led NYU Langone’s expansion of its main campus, which runs from East 30th to East 34th streets, and from First Avenue to FDR Drive. 

AvalonBay sold the building to Verbena and Dermot Companies in 2015 for $175 million, three years before Verbena founder and CEO Dennis Wong bought out the partner’s stake for $50 million, The Real Deal previously reported. 

The property contains rentals ranging from studios to four-bedroom units and, according to StreetEasy, advertised rents earlier this year at up to $9,000 for a three-bedroom. 

New development along the sprawling medical corridor spans from East 25th Street, where New York authorities are planning a dedicated medical campus, to East 80th Street, where Extell Development is planning a 30-story medical office building.

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