Giannis Antetokounmpo Trades for New York Apartment Building

NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo is taking his talents to New York — but not quite to Madison Square Garden.

The Milwaukee Bucks forward purchased an eight-story, 28-unit apartment property in Brooklyn’s Prospect Lefferts Gardens for $14.1 million, Bisnow reported. The deal for the property at 111 Clarkson Avenue breaks down to $504,000 per unit. The sellers were developers Seth Brown and Richard Ludwig.

The Lawrence is a fully rent-regulated property, providing “The Greek Freak” with his biggest challenge since delivering a championship to the Bucks five years ago. The building was developed in 2018 under the 421a tax abatement program.

Amenities at the two-building complex include a virtual doorman, a landscaped roof deck, a fitness center and two community lounges. No units are available, according to StreetEasy, and rents have ranged from $2,000 to $4,500.

The sale was first reported by PincusCo. Antetokounmpo’s agent and investment firm did not return Bisnow’s requests for comment.

Outside of the world of commercial real estate, Antetokounmpo has been the subject of persistent rumors that he could be leaving the troubled Bucks franchise to become a New York Knick. Reports over the summer suggested he would be interested in a trade to the Knicks and the injured star was recently reported to be mulling his future over with the Bucks’ brass.

But the purchase could be little more than a business move for Antetokounmpo. He launched Build Your Legacy Ventures, a venture capital fund, last year, according to the Sports Business Journal. One of the fund’s first investments was to back Unrivaled, a women’s basketball league that puts on games during the WNBA’s offseason.

Antetokounmpo’s portfolio also includes an apartment building in a suburb of Milwaukee, which he purchased last month for $11.4 million.

He isn’t the only baller with multifamily real estate interests in Brooklyn. Remy Raisner, a former professional basketball player in France, has amassed a portfolio totaling 50 properties in Bushwick, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Prospect Lefferts Gardens.

— Holden Walter-Warner