CIM Group unloads 165 East 66th Street at major discount

CIM Group has sold off a luxury rental building on the Upper East Side at a major discount.

The Los Angeles-based investment firm sold The Henley, its 150-unit complex at 165 East 66th Street, for $128 million, a 36 percent drop from the $200 million the company shelled out for it half a decade ago, sources told the Commercial Observer.

Ofer Yardeni’s Stonehenge was the buyer, with Acore Capital providing financing for the deal, which closed Nov. 1.

Acore Capital confirmed the transaction to the outlet but declined to provide details on the loan.

The sale’s discount can be attributed to a variety of factors, including elevated interest rates. Buyers are requiring higher cap rates for multifamily residential purchases than six years ago, necessitating lower bids relative to a property’s revenue.

CIM Group originally purchased the property from Miami-based developer Crescent Heights in 2019, financing the deal with a $178 million debt package from Pimco Commercial Real Estate Debt, replacing a previous Bank of China loan from 2015.

Crescent Heights bought 165 East 66th Street from California Public Employees’ Retirement System for $230 million in 2013. The company converted the building, then called the Westminster, to a condominium in 2018, splitting the property into retail and residential sections along with a parking garage, and rebranding it The Henley.

CIM Group shelled out an additional $10 million for the garage in a separate transaction. Crescent Heights retained control of the property’s retail space.

It is unclear whether the garage was included in CIM’s sale.

Eastdil Secured’s Gary Phillips, Daniel Parker and Will Silverman negotiated the sale. Eastdil’s Grant Frankel and Ethan Pond arranged Acore’s financing.

Stonehenge has been focused lately on the Upper East Side. In addition to the sale of 165 East 66th Street, the company bought 408 East 92nd Street, a 32-story residential tower, from UBS for approximately $115 million last year, with $80 million in financing from Mesa West Capital. In total, the company’s real estate portfolio holds seven properties in the area.

CIM Group’s focus, meanwhile, has shifted downtown. The investment firm picked up the distressed 88 University Place in Greenwich Village for $48.6 million. The company was also the lender on the building.

— Caroline Handel