943-Unit Multifamily Portfolio Trades for $118M

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NEW YORK CITY-A multifamily portfolio has traded in an all-cash transaction for $118 million. A joint venture of Bronstein Properties LLC and JP Morgan Asset Management bought the Bassuk Portfolio to gain 943 units in Brooklyn and Queens.

“This portfolio was built up by my grandfather over many years and passed along to his five sons,” says Richard Bassuk, president of the Singer and Bassuk Organization. “Until now we never considered selling the properties, but the dynamics of the current market made the deal very attractive.”

The portfolio traded at a cap rate of 5%. The 14 properties in the portfolio include five buildings in Brooklyn totaling 240 units or 271,000 sf, and nine buildings in Queens totaling 703 units or 570,000 sf. The Brooklyn properties are in Brooklyn Heights, Bay Ridge and Midwood, while the Queens buildings are in Sunnyside, Jackson Heights, Richmond Hill and Woodhaven.

“Selling was never before considered an option, but in the current market where ownership of residential properties is transferring at extremely low cap rates and high gross rent multiples, a sale became viable,” said Massey Knakal partner Brian Leary. He tells GlobeSt.com, the frenzied market, low cap rate and increasing cost to operate a portfolio of this size were all factors behind putting it on the market.

Massey Knakal’s Leary, Brian Sarath, Robert Knakal and Paul Massey were the portfolio’s exclusive brokers. Requests for comment were not returned by deadline.

This sale marks the third multifamily portfolio sale in New York City this week. On Wednesday a 1,416-unit portfolio in the Bronx sold for $136 million. As GlobeSt.com reported the five-building portfolio was purchased by joint venture partners Taconic Investment Partners and ING Clarion Partners. On Tuesday London-based Dawnay, Day Group made its first foray into this real estate market with the $225-million purchase of 48 buildings in East Harlem and the East Village. The purchase includes 58 retail properties and 1,141 residential units.

“Investors for this type of product are competativley buying in the New York City market and there is clearly a lack of product to meet the demand. This has sparked a great deal of acivity in areas surrounding Manhattan,” Leary tells GlobeSt.com. “Institutional purchasers are generally looking for large quantities of units and owners that are capable of aggregating multiple buildings to sell are seeing a large premium on a sale. It seems the bigger the portfolio the larger the demand in today’s market.”