Nine-Building East Harlem MF Trades for $27M

NEW YORK CITY-Affiliates of Security Properties sold a nine-building, 229-unit affordable housing portfolio with associated ground-level retail in East Harlem to an affiliate of Pacific Housing Advisors, Massey Knakal Realty Advisors said Friday. The portfolio sold in mid-December in an all-cash transaction valued at $26.9 million.

“Our goals for the transaction were twofold: preserving the affordability of the apartment units while maximizing sale proceeds to the seller,” says Tim Overland, managing director of affordable housing at Security Properties, a private Seattle-based multifamily investment group, in a release. “We feel that both goals have been met.”

The buildings are known as Met Paca I and Met Paca II, and operate under a Section 8 rent subsidy contract with HUD. The new owner will continue to maintain the portfolio as affordable housing, the release states.

Massey Knakal’s Shimon Shkury represented Security Properties in the deal. It was reportedly the largest Northern Manhattan real estate sale of 2009, topping the previous sale of 1428 Fifth Ave. for $21.95 million, also arranged by Shkury and his team. In the release, Shkury, a partner with Massey Knakl, observes, “The buyer and seller struck an excellent deal, and the neighborhood will continue to have an outstanding portfolio of buildings maintained as affordable housing.”

In early December, the New York City Housing Development Corp.’s board of directors voted to approve $30 million in tax-exempt Multi-Family Rental Housing Revenue Bonds to rehabilitate the portfolio, which is also known as Lexington Courts.