Akelius Makes $61M Gramercy Apt. Buy

The Gramercy Park neighborhood of Manhattan, where Akelius now owns two apartment properties. (Photo: Sean Brady)

NEW YORK CITY—Akelius Real Estate Management, which earlier this summer made the latest in a series of Brooklyn multifamily acquisitions, has now added to its Manhattan portfolio. The Swedish investment and asset management firm, which controls a portfolio of more than 50,000 apartments in Europe and North America, paid $60.9 million to acquire 321 E. 22nd St., a 117-unit property in the Gramercy Park neighborhood.

An HFF team including managing directors Jeff Julien and Rob Hinckley and senior managing director Andrew Scandalios represented the seller, Benedict Realty Group, and procured the buyer. Julien told The Real Deal that the sale price on 321 E. 22nd worked out to about $1,000 per square foot. It’s nearly double the $31 million Benedict paid for the six-story property in 2012, and represents Akelius’ biggest deal in Manhattan since paying $167.5 million to acquire a nearby rental, the 17-story 301 E. 21st St.