Pistilli Realty Buys $30M Bronx Rental From Harry Silverstein’s Estate
By Liam La Guerre September 29, 2017 1:22 pm
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Pistilli Realty Group has completed the purchase of a 150-unit rental at 1555 Grand Concourse in the Mount Eden section of the Bronx for $29.8 million from the estate of the late Harry Silverstein, who has been ranked the worst landlord in the city.
The sale of the 139,000-square-foot building closed on Wednesday, according to Michael Pistilli, a vice president of Pistilli Realty.
Pistilli Realty, a family-run firm from Astoria, Queens, controls a portfolio of about 6,000 multifamily apartments in the Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and White Plains, N.Y. The company already owns nearly 28 buildings with close to 2,000 apartments in the Bronx.
The building at 1555 Grand Concourse is comprised of mostly one- and two-bedroom units. The property has some rent-stabilized units but Pistilli wasn’t sure exactly how many.
While at one nearby building Pistilli Realty owns, the landlord charges about $1,500 a month for one-bedroom units and $1,850 per month for two-bedrooms, at 1555 Grand Concourse there are many tenants paying hundreds of dollars less, Pistilli said.
“It’s just a beautiful property and it has a lot of upside on it,” Pistilli said.
The Real Deal was first to report in July that the building was in contract, and that Eric Silverstein, son of Harry, was selling his father’s portfolio of 14 buildings and nearly 800 apartments in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx (which includes 1555 Grand Concourse).
Harry Silverstein was ranked as the worst landlord in the city last year by the office of the Public Advocate Letitia James with 2032 violations. He died late last year, according to TRD. There are 23 open violations at 1555 Grand Concourse, according to the New York City Department of Buildings. Pistilli said his company plans to correct them soon.
Silverstein could not be immediately reached for comment. Mark Steinmetz and Richard Velotta of Meridian Capital Group handled the deal for both sides of the transaction.
“Large elevator buildings on the Grand Concourse rarely sell,” Steinmetz said. “Given that, the purchaser seized the opportunity to acquire an asset of this scale.”
