Real Estate Group Spends $42.5M On Six Area Apartment Buildings
Manhattan’s Sentinel Real Estate has purchased six local buildings comprising 261 units for a total of $42.5 million, says The Real Deal.
The firm, which already owns approximately 32,000 rental units across the US, added buildings at 259 E 18th Street (between Beverley and Albemarle Roads), 287 East 18th Street (on the corner of Beverley Road), 120, 146, and 165 East 19th Street (all between Beverley and Albemarle Roads), and 2105 Foster Avenue (on the corner of E 21st Street) to their roster on April 29.
The buildings were bought from Pinnacle Group. The Real Deal says current average rents of the units sold range from $870-1,344 per month.
“So basically 261 families are screwed,” said one Brownstoner commenter of the transaction.
“The only way this deal makes sense is if the buyer is assuming a significant number of tenants can be ‘induced’ to leave thus allowing their units to be renovated and rented at market rates,” said another, although he added he was skeptical of that strategy’s success.
As with other recent rental building purchases like 1834 Caton Avenue and 220 E 18th Street, this deal seems a bit worrisome to us in terms of longtime or low income tenants retaining their homes.
“It’s exactly what you think it is,” says Aga Trojniak of the Flatbush Tenant Coalition, “a predatory equity company buying buildings (from another predatory equity company) at an incredibly inflated price so the only way they can make their money is to evict long-term tenants en masse. I expect tenants in these buildings to face lack of repairs (while vacant apartments are fully renovated), random nonrent fees, frivolous court cases, repeated MCI rent increases, and more.
“But tenants can fight back — this is not a foregone conclusion. Organizing together brings power — with a strong tenant association, tenants can protect their homes. We will be reaching out to folks in these buildings to make sure everyone knows their rights, what to expect, and how they can work together to stop the plan to illegally gentrify these buildings.”
We’d be interested to hear if neighbors disagree. Any tenants of the aforementioned buildings and/or local real estate buffs care to weigh in?