Alchemy Ventures Acquires $24.5M Bed-Stuy Building Portfolio
Paul Massey’s new firm B6 brokered the nine-building multifamily Brooklyn deal.
NEW YORK CITY—Alchemy Ventures is betting on Bed-Stuy to achieve higher rents. The company invested in the Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn neighborhood, acquiring nine buildings from IWC General Partner for $24.5 million. Between 2012 and 2014, the seller had acquired the portfolio for approximately $16 million.
The properties are located at 879 DeKalb Ave., 829 Halsey St., 804, 808 and 814 Macon St., 319 Malcolm X Blvd., 419 and 421 Marcus Garvey Blvd. and 654 Putnam Ave. Together they have a total of 81 units, across 52,136 square feet. Roughly half of the units are rent-stabilized. The remainder are either destabilized or vacant.
A B6 Real Estate Advisors team led by DJ Johnston brokered the deal for Alchemy. Ackman Ziff’s David Borden and Jason Krane arranged the financing. On July 1, 2018, B6 was started by the former Cushman & Wakefield president, New York investment sales, and the founder of Massey Knakal Realty Services, Paul J. Massey Jr.
“A portfolio sale like this presents a great opportunity to purchase a sizable investment in a consolidated area while keeping property tax exposure low,” says Johnston. “Negotiating a nine-building portfolio takes time, over six months in this case, and entails a significant amount of due diligence review.” Johnston was hired in August as a partner and senior managing director to cover Brooklyn.
Established in 2014, Alchemy Ventures is an affiliate of Alchemy Properties, a long-time developer of luxury properties. The company opportunistically acquires value-add multifamily and mixed-use assets in transitional New York neighborhoods. They seek to reposition apartments to move them into higher rent-generating properties in specific submarkets.