By Al Barbarino
Astoria based owner and manager Alma Realty continued to bulk up its multifamily portfolio with the purchase of a seven-building package in the Hamilton and Washington Heights sections of Northern Manhattan for $62 million.
The buildings — sold by Vantage Properties — consist of seven elevator apartment properties with 362 residential and 28 commercial units, for a combined 434,605 s/f. They are located at 3421, 3851, 4141, 4151 and 4180 Broadway; 610 West 157th Street; and 559 West 164th Street.
“We’re owner-operators and our strength is our management style,” said a spokesman at Alma, who estimated that the company owns roughly 1,000 units in the vicinity of the latest acquisition. “We own property all over the tri-state area and this is just another deal.”
Vantage brought the portfolio to market through Massey Knakal Realty Services last year, pitching its potential to produce $7 million of gross revenue in the first year, which would translate into net operating income of about $5 million.
“This portfolio was one of our first acquisitions in northern Manhattan and was made about five years ago,” a spokesperson for Vantage Properties said. “We have been very pleased with the performance of these assets and the pricing we were able to achieve in today’s market.”
The bulk of the apartments are rent-stabilized, allowing for modest annual rent increases and bigger ones as units turn over and are renovated. Only 27 units were fully renovated at the time of the sale and the average rent is about 40% below the area’s market average.
Vantage has purchased more than 125 apartment buildings with about 9,500 apartment units since 2006. The vast majority of the units in Harlem, Upper Manhattan and Queens are rent-regulated.
Alma Realty was founded in 1978 by Greek-American Efstathios (Steve) Valiotis. The company offers property renovation as well as apartment rentals.
In January Alma purchased a building at 30-30 Northern Boulevard from developer Edward Minskoff for $21.5 million. Minskoff had planned to build a dormitory at the site before it faltered with opposition from the local community board.
Massey Knakal brokers Bob Knakal and Robert Shapiro represented the seller. They did not return calls for comment by press time.
