NEW YORK CITY-The potential sale of Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town isn't the only indication of local multifamily's allure, and while yet another major complex goes on the block, another comes off--both carrying hefty valuations.

The East Harlem Portfolio, a collection of 48 mixed-use and residential buildings in East Harlem, is on the auction block, and sources close to the deal are valuing the property at $250 million. The assets, located on the East Side between FDR Drive and Park Avenue and stretching for 22 blocks north of East 100th Street, have a total of 1145 units. This includes four commercial and three residential condos.

Eastern Consolidated chairman Peter Hauspurg and senior director Marcia Rose Yawitz are marketing the portfolio for owner Steven Kessner of the Real Estate Group. The sale, according to Yawitz, represents the group's total income-producing assets.

With Harlem housing virtually saturated, says Yawitz--the fruit of its much-touted renaissance--"East Harlem is the next place," she says. And that means rent potential, she notes. More than 940 units in the complex are rent-stabilized and 42 are rent-controlled, but of the 204 units that are market rent, Yawitz sees a maximum potential rent roll of as much as $25 million.

The average rent is $1200 for stabilized units and $1863 for market-rate homes, she says, explaining that the average per-sf rent ranges from $33 to $36. "There's approximately 700,000 sf rentable sf," Yawitz calculates.

In addition to the condo and rental spaces, there are also 61 ground-floor retail sites throughout the complex. "There's very little retail vacancy," Yawitz tells GlobeSt.com. "But where there is upside potential for larger, higher profile retailers along the main avenues and cross streets, ownership is exploring those possibilities."

Meanwhile, Denver-based apartment REIT Archstone-Smith revealed this morning that it has landed Key West, a 207-unit, 13-story high-rise community here. Details on the sale are slim, but in a statement, the trust reveals that the $110 million price will be funded primarily through the tax-deferred gain of sales of non-core apartment communities.