Ariel Property Advisors Sale Reflects A Heated Harlem
By Al Barbarino December 5, 2013 7:30 am
reprintsAriel Property Advisors has sold a portfolio consisting of three mixed-use properties at 2245, 2259, and 2285 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard, between West 132nd and West 135th Streets in Central Harlem, for $4.2 million, The Commercial Observer has learned.
“Buyers were quickly attracted to the portfolio’s well-maintained condition and future upside,” said Victor Sozio, vice president of Ariel Property Advisors, who represented the seller and procured the buyer, two undisclosed real estate investment groups, with Shimon Shkury, Michael Tortorici, and Jesse Deutch.
Mr. Sozio noted that the initial cap rate is about 4.5 percent, but that “the price per square foot reflects the value-add opportunity for new ownership.”
“They see an opportunity to increase rents in the future as the units are very large and operate at well below market right now,” he said of the new buyer, though noting that the units must stay stabilized under the terms of a 30-year regulatory agreement that expires in 2027.
The properties, which were gut renovated in 1997, total 32,025 gross square feet and consist of three, five-story walk-up buildings with a total of 25 residential and four retail units.
Of the 25 apartments, five are one-bedrooms units, 12 are two-bedroom units, and eight are three-bedroom units.
About one week ago Ariel Property Advisors announced the sale of two adjoining six-story multifamily properties at 556-562 West 126th Street for $15 million.
“Both of these areas have seen significant growth since the early 2000s,” Mr. Sozio said.
Close to City College, the Columbia expansion, and Harlem Hospital, the Boulevard buildings are central to local medical facilities, businesses, and educational institutions, in close proximity to the 2/3 trains on West 135th and Lenox, and the B/C trains on St. Nicholas Avenue.
“In Central Harlem, as of recently, we are seeing buyers historically focused further south pushing their boundaries further north… buyers perception continues to shift as the area continues to grow,” he added.
