A&E Real Estate achieved a major expansion in South Brooklyn with the acquisition of a portfolio of 14 properties. The company acquired the multi-family portfolio of The LeFrak organization for $248.7 million. A&E also secured a $170 million fixed rate loan from Signature Bank to help with acquisition. Funding was arranged by Estreich & Cie.by Jonathan Estreich and Jason Boxer.
The South Brooklyn portfolio has 1,212 apartments in the Gravesend and Sheepshead Bay neighborhoods of Brooklyn. The LeFrak family developed these communities between 1957 and 1961 and has invested more than $18 million in capital improvements across the portfolio since 2015. Investments include installing Wi-Fi improvements in the communities . The portfolio also has a total of 306 parking spaces and five commercial units.
The tallest buildings in the portfolio include 2750 Homecrest Ave. and 2775 E. 12th St, both of which offer 189 units. The third largest community, 2375 E. 3rd St., has 134 apartments. According to A&E, the portfolio is 98% occupied.
Douglas Eisenberg, executive chairman of A&E Real Estate, said in prepared remarks that the company continues to believe in the long-term strength of the New York market, despite the economic, regulatory and pandemic-related uncertainties that the whole of the residential market has experienced.
Take another bite of the Big Apple
The acquisition of the South Brooklyn portfolio marks the company’s latest multi-family transaction in New York. Over the past 12 months, A&E has acquired 3,284 apartments in 43 buildings in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens. In April, the company acquired 1080 Amsterdam Avenue of SL Green for $42.5 million, making it A&E’s third acquisition from the same vendor in the past year.
Throughout 2022, A&E also acquired 140 and 160 Riverside Blvd. on the Upper West Side from Equity Residential, 92-40 Queens Blvd. in the Rego Park neighborhood of Queens and a portfolio of 22 communities located in Queens Village. A&E’s portfolio in Queens spans a wide range of communities, from its 388-unit luxury community, The Opal, to 53 buildings in Kew Gardens Hills that total 1,268 units spread across 12 city blocks.