NEW YORK CITY-London-based Dawnay, Day Group has entered the New York City real estate market with a $225-million portfolio sale. The acquisition, from 27 different sellers, includes 48 buildings in East Harlem and the East Village for a total of 58 retail properties and 1141 residential units.

The Harlem properties comprised the bulk of the deal, totaling 1,137 apartment units and 55 retail units in 47 buildings between East 100th Street and East 120th Street, according to Eastern Consolidated's R. Stuart Gross.

"This is our first venture into the US and I am delighted to have begun with such a substantial acquisition in New York City," says Dawnay, Day chief executive Peter Klimt, in a statement. "We believe we can add considerable value to the assets acquired primarily through asset management activity. The decision to acquire this portfolio reflects our ability as a private company to acquire assets on an opportunistic basis which is often against current trends of mainstream investing. This is a further step in Dawnay, Day seeking deep value property opportunities on an international scale."

The New York City office of Arent Fox LLP represented Dawnay Day. The portfolio's seller was not released but the portfolio was exclusively marketed by Eastern Consolidated's Marcia Rose Yawitz and Gross. Dawnay, Day was procured by Gross.

Dawnay, Day has started a new company to handle the New York City portfolio and farm future acquisitions. The company, Dawnay, Day US Real Estate Management LLC has plans to grow beyond its current 45-member team as its holdings in the US grow.

The company owns or manages roughly $10 billion of properties across the globe, including the UK, Germany, Italy, Ukraine, Russia, India and Australia.