Blackstone Real Estate Property VIII and Fairstead Capital have closed on a deal to purchase a portfolio of 24 apartment buildings in New York City for $690 million. The transaction, which was announced by Fairstead Capital, stands as the largest individual residential asset sale in the past decade. In a press release, law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher, which represented portfolio manager B&L Management, also pointed out that the deal was one of the largest sales of an elevator building portfolio in the history of Manhattan.
The properties included in the deal are mid-rise buildings scattered across Chelsea and the Upper East Side. The buildings contain 997 residential and commercial units. The seller was the Caiola family.
The deal represents Blackstone’s entry into the rental housing business. The Blackstone Group, the world’s largest investor in real estate, established its new fund, Blackstone Real Estate Property VIII, earlier this year, after announcing plans to raise $1.3 billion from retail investors. Its partner, Fairstead Capital, is a real estate investor and asset manager that has $2.3 billion worth of property in New York City.
Fairstead said that they plan to upgrade the common spaces, add new amenities and renovate units for the buildings in the portfolio.
