Rockpoint Buys Apartment Building in Williamsburg for $66M

Rockpoint has acquired a 45-unit apartment building in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, for $66.3 million, according to city records made public Monday.

The Boston-based Rockpoint, through the entity 56N9 Owner, purchased the six-story retail and residential building at 56 North Ninth Street from Double U Development, which used the entity Ronit Realty, records show.

Ron Hoyl, senior managing director at Rockpoint, signed the deal for the buyer, while Michael Weitzman, founder and CEO of Double U, signed for the seller, according to records.

Rockpoint, which acquired the property in partnership with Lincoln Property Company, financed the acquisition through a $44.8 million loan from Truist Bank, records show.

“We are pleased to add 56 North Ninth Street to our residential portfolio,” Dan Domb, managing member and chief operating officer at Rockpoint, said in a statement in late July announcing the sale.

“Investing in a recently constructed property that combines amenity-rich living with versatile on-site retail spaces — in one of New York’s most compelling and sought-after submarkets — offers a unique opportunity to deliver value for our tenants,” Domb added.

Meridian Capital Group’s Chirag Doshi brokered the deal for both the buyer and the seller. 

“The sale demonstrates continued demand for institutional-quality assets in culturally rich, supply-constrained markets like Williamsburg,” Doshi said in a statement sent to Commercial Observer. “Sophisticated purchasers are capitalizing on market opportunities like 56 North Ninth to acquire durable, tax-protected cash flow that is being priced against an elevated cost of capital.”

Spokespeople for Rockpoint, Double U, Truist and Lincoln Property did not immediately respond to requests for further comment.

The fully leased, nearly 100,000-square-foot building on the Williamsburg waterfront was originally listed at $80 million last year before the sellers reduced the price, Crain’s New York Business reported.

The property on the corner of North Ninth Street and Kent Avenue also has 30,000 square feet, or nine units, of retail space, with current tenants including record company Pretty Money Records and dog day care center Pups Pet Club.

Meanwhile, the apartments on the building’s upper floors rent from $2,794 per month for a studio to $9,285 per month for a two-bedroom, according to StreetEasy.

It’s unclear why Double U decided to offload the property, but the developer is certainly busy elsewhere in Brooklyn.

In May, Double U filed plans to turn the currently vacant two-story building at 144 Greenpoint Avenue in Greenpoint into a six-story retail and residential building with 35 apartment units, as CO previously reported.

And, last August, the developer submitted an application to build an 88,000-square-foot retail and sports center on a vacant lot at 83 Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg, Crain’s reported at the time.

Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.