Intervest Development Corporation Sells Washington Heights Portfolio for $165M
By Lauren Elkies Schram May 4, 2016 5:30 pm
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After a couple of decades of owning and managing a portfolio of nine mixed-use elevator buildings in Washington Heights, Intervest Development Corporation has sold them for $165 million, Commercial Observer has learned. The deal closed this afternoon.
“They’ve had the properties for between 20 and 30 years and wanted to take advantage of the currently strong market,” said Eastern Consolidated‘s Marcia Rose Yawitz. She and Ron Solarz represented Intervest Development Corporation, a long-term owner of investment-grade properties, and they procured the buyer, WHP LLC, a corporation outside of New York City made up of a consortium of private investors.
The buildings are located primarily on St. Nicholas Avenue between West 164th and West 192nd Streets and span 487,700 square feet. They contain 413 apartments (383 are rent-stabilized, 25 are rent-controlled and five are free market with monthly rents running from $378 to $2,639), 70 percent of which have two or more bedrooms, 48 street-level retail stores (mostly mom-and-pop shops), two professional offices and one rooftop antenna.
“As values in West Harlem and Hamilton Heights have increased exponentially, active real estate investors are seeking properties with upside in Washington Heights,” Ms. Yawitz said in prepared remarks. “Renters priced out of other areas also are attracted to the area because of its abundance of large, pre-war apartments like those in this portfolio, which are ideal for both families and shares.”
Mr. Solarz noted: “The buyer saw a rare opportunity to acquire a prime, mixed-use Washington Heights portfolio that offers tremendous upside value on the residential and retail units, as the rents are far below market. All but one property in the package is a corner building with ground-floor retail.”
