Fat Albert Owner Picks Up Bay Ridge Apartments for $17M
By Nicholas Rizzi June 23, 2020 5:28 pm
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The owner of a Brooklyn department store bought a 67-unit rent-stabilized apartment building in Bay Ridge from its longtime owners for $17.1 million, Commercial Observer has learned.
Lang Development Corp. sold the 72,000-square-foot 515 Ovington Avenue to Albert Srour — who owns several multifamily buildings around the borough along with the Fat Albert department store in Bedford Stuyvesant — this week, according to Jeffrey Znaty of Kassin Sabbagh Realty, who represented both sides in the sale.
“Rarely do properties in this established neighborhood trade hands,” Znaty said in a statement. “This transaction marks the first time 515 Ovington Avenue has been sold in nearly 70 years. The investment provided Albert Srour with a unique opportunity for a long-term hold.”
The six-story building between 5th and 6th Avenues was built in 1956 and recent StreetEasy listings show one-bedroom apartments renting for $1,700 and a two-bedroom unit asking $2,450 per month.
Srour was also able to use the controversial J-51 tax abatement program, which grants owners a break if they make renovations to older buildings and requires them to offer rent-stabilized leases, for the transaction and he plans to upgrade some of the units, Znaty said.
Lang and Srour could not immediately be reached for comment.
