Tokyu Land Buys Majority Stake in LES Building for $56M

Tokyu Land US Corporation made a splash in the Lower East Side last week.

The firm, the American arm of Japan’s Tokyu Fudosan Holdings Group and a co-developer of 425 Park Avenue, acquired a majority stake in an 83-unit multifamily building at 10 Rutgers Street from Maurice Kaufman’s AMAC for $56 million as part of a recapitalization, the New York Business Journal reported. The deal for the 75,000-square-foot property breaks down to $747 per square foot and nearly $675,000 per unit. Tokyu reportedly owns at least 87 percent of the property while AMAC maintains a minority stake.

Neither party commented to the outlet on the sale. A JLL Capital Markets team led by Rob Hinckley and Jeffrey Julien represented the seller. The firm’s Lauren Kaufman and Michael Shmuely handled debt advisory on behalf of the buyer.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group subsidiary MUFG Bank — Japan’s largest bank — provided a $31 million loan for Tokyu Land’s acquisition.

Construction on the building was completed in 2018, the same year AMAC acquired the property for $59 million. There doesn’t appear to be any availability at the property, but listed rents this year ranged from $4,560 and $8,500, according to StreetEasy.

Last month, the median rent for a brokered apartment in Manhattan was $4,550, down slightly from the previous period, but still up more than 8 percent year-over-year, according to a monthly report from appraiser Miller Samuel for Douglas Elliman. Elevated mortgage rates have kept would-be buyers in the rental market, helping to pace an all-time record in July, when the median rent in Manhattan stood at $4,700.

In November, Tokyu Land teamed up with Robert Morgenstern’s Canvas Investment Partners on the $112.8 million acquisition of the 150-unit Azure tower at 436 Albee Square in Downtown Brooklyn. Joel Gluck’s Spencer Equity was the seller of the rental building.

AMAC, meanwhile, owns or manages 71 buildings across 10 states. The developer secured a $34 million loan from Affinius Capital to refinance Main & Mill, an apartment complex delivered two years ago in downtown Lewisville, a suburb northwest of Dallas.

Elsewhere on the Lower East Side, Austin-based MML Hospitality recently purchased the 113-key Nine Orchard hotel at 9 Orchard Street from DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners for $92 million.

— Holden Walter-Warner