Phoenix Realty Buys Bronx Apartment Buildings From Camber for $55M
By Isabelle Durso May 22, 2025 12:24 pm
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Phoenix Realty Group has acquired a pair of apartment buildings in the Bronx’s Soundview neighborhood for a total of $54.5 million, according to city records made public Wednesday.
Phoenix, through the entity Bronx 314 Owner, bought the Carol Gardens housing development at 820 and 880 Thieriot Avenue from Camber Property Group, which used the entity Carol Gardens Preservation, records show.
Ron Orgel, co-founder of Phoenix, signed the deal for the buyer, while Rick Gropper, founder of Camber, signed for the seller, according to records.
It’s unclear who brokered the deal. Spokespeople for Camber and Phoenix did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The two 16-story buildings between Lafayette and Story avenues — which contain a total of 314 apartments — were built through the Mitchell-Lama program, which aims to provide rental and cooperative housing for moderate- and middle-income families.
Phoenix’s recent purchase of the property comes at a much higher price than the $19 million Camber spent for it in November 2017, The Real Deal reported.
Camber’s acquisition of Carol Gardens in 2017 — which the firm completed alongside LIHC Investment Group and Belveron Partners — was the first time the buildings had changed hands since they were built in 1968, according to TRD.
Under their ownership, Camber, LIHC and Belveron completed more than $20 million worth of renovations at the apartment complex, including a new facade, mechanical systems and elevators, as well as a new security system, TRD reported.
The deal comes after Camber purchased the 1,527-unit Linden Plaza apartment complex in East New York, Brooklyn, in January for nearly $1 billion, as Commercial Observer previously reported.
Phoenix has been making moves recently, too.
This month, New York Mayor Eric Adams picked Phoenix and developer Artimus to build more than 500 mixed-income housing units on two vacant parcels of land on the Stapleton, Staten Island, waterfront, CO reported.
Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.
