INVESTMENT: Eastern Consolidates Tapped to Exclusively Market Coop Buildings at Asking Price of $7.65M

New York, N.Y.– A portfolio of 43 occupied cooperative apartments, 34 of which are located at the Towers at Water’s Edge luxury co-op community in Bayside, Queens, N.Y.; six in two elevator buildings in Jackson Heights and Forest Hills, N.Y.; and three in Manhattan’s historic Gramercy Park neighborhood, is on the market for sale at an asking price of $7.65 million.

Eastern Consolidated Senior Director Deborah Gutoff, Director George Moss, and Senior Director Alan P. Miller are exclusively marketing The Birchwood Residential Portfolio on behalf of the seller, a partnership of Angelo Gordon & Co., Belvedere Capital and ABC Properties. All of the apartments are currently occupied by rent stabilized tenants.

 “The investment would provide a positive cash flow in the near term and significant upside as the units convert to free market,” noted Gutoff. “These are all well-managed co-ops with strong financials and attractive tenant demographics.” Each of the buildings is full service, offering luxury amenities with ample common areas that recently benefited from significant capital investment. Most of the Bayside apartments offer breathtaking views of Little Neck Bay and the New York City skyline.”

According to Mr. Moss, “The apartments are all located in desirable residential neighborhoods in close proximity to national, regional and local retail stores with good access to public transportation. Given their attractive locations and generous unit sizes, we feel confident that the demand to live in a well-established, well-managed co-op community is virtually a certainty.” With respect to the Bayside residences, Moss’s outlook is perhaps best supported by the fact that the seller was successful in selling 185 units over a two year period, amidst the worst real estate market in a generation.

According to Dan Robinson, project director for the seller, “To ensure the position of the Towers at Water’s Edge as the most desirable residential community on the North Shore, we continued to invest in upgrading the landscaping and common areas of the community through the duration of our sales program. In the winter of 2008, when the market was at its worst, our pace of sales actually increased. This is while most other residential sales projects in the City were at a complete standstill.”

The co-ops are located in the following buildings:

The Towers at Water’s Edge, Bayside Queens (34 units)

Seville, 18-15 215th Street

Versailles, 18-05 215th Street

Birchwood Towers, Forest Hills (1 unit)

The Kyoto, 102-10 66th Road

The Residences at Jackson Heights (5 units)

Sheila Terrace 37-30 73rd Street

Gramercy Park Towers, Manhattan (3 units)

205 Third Avenue

 The Towers at Water’s Edge is a luxury development offering heated swimming pool, five tennis courts, health club, full service spa, media/entertainment room, card rooms and an on premises shopping arcade with a convenience store, dry cleaning service and secure onsite parking.

As an entire collection, the 43 apartments offer large average unit sizes with one bedrooms (58 percent of the portfolio) averaging 765 square feet, two bedrooms (30 percent) at 1,095 square feet and three bedrooms (12 percent) at an average of 1,521 square feet. All of the units feature abundant light and air with most offering balconies or terraces for additional outdoor space.

“This offering represents a compelling opportunity for an investor to take advantage of ideal timing in the market cycle as residential values have not only stabilized, but are showing signs of significant improvement,” said Miller.  

“This investment also offers long-term capital appreciation suitable for investors with 1031 tax deferred exchange requirements,” added Gutoff.