Shimon Shkury

Ariel Property Advisors has been up to its eyeballs in work since the collapse of Signature Bank, Silicon Valley Bank and others in March last year.

Shimon Shkury’s firm got to work evaluating and underwriting up to 1,000 properties for clients in just a matter of weeks to months, something he believes was possible only because of the size of his “nimble” firm.

But while he and his colleagues have been advising clients on the best route through distress, Ariel Property Advisors has also become a leader in assisting transactions for affordable housing, such as the sale of the 818-unit Sea Park housing portfolio in Coney Island to Tredway for $150 million.

Ariel also helped with the $45.2 million sale of the Heighliner portfolio in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx to Asland Capital Partners in June.

Ariel’s advantage in these transactions is having literal boots on the ground.

“I think what gives us the edge is our history,” Shkury said. “We started our business in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx where a lot of the buildings are either rent-
stabilized or affordable housing, and as a result learned throughout the years how to look at the nuances of each one of these buildings and programs, and grew into doing bigger and better deals.”

Ariel is also expanding outside the tri-state area through a partnership in April 2024 with Global Real Estate Advisors (GREA), an investment sales firm with clients in Chicago, Dallas, Detroit and Miami. GREA will get the benefit of expanding into the five boroughs.

“I think what else helped us with affordable housing and multifamily is again our ability to collect information, dissect it, and present it in the most — we think — appropriate way. That’s the secret sauce,” Shkury said. “Out of 60 people, half of our company are research analysts and sales support. I think that’s a combination that not many companies have when it comes to understanding nuanced deals.”