NYC’s Asland Capital Partners Purchases Six Adjacent Buildings in Harlem for $10M

NYC’s Asland Capital Partners Purchases Six Adjacent Buildings in Harlem for $10M

By:  Benyamin Davidsons

Midtown-based real estate investor Asland Capital Partners has purchased six adjacent buildings in Harlem for $10.1 million.

As reported by Crain’s NY, the 87-unit multifamily portfolio was purchased from Larchmont-based real estate developer L+M Development Partners, led by Chairman and founding partner Ron Moelis.  The deal includes the six apartment buildings at 203, 205, 207, 209, 213 and 215 W. on 148th St in Harlem. The transaction was filed on June 2, and was financed with two mortgages totaling $8.4 million, as per real estate research firm CoStar. Included in the transaction are: six studio apartments, 29 one-bedroom units, 49 two-bedroom units and three three-bedroom units.  The buildings’ site is located near the line 3 station at 148th Street.

Asland has plans to do renovations on all six buildings, but keep them as affordable housing for households earning below 60 percent of the area median income, which comes out to under $59,340 for a single individual or below $84,720 for a family of four, per Crain’s.

Asland, launched in 2020, specializes in affordable housing in the city, investing in the same.   The recent six-building purchase is part of an affordable housing investment being made with financial support from the city Department of Housing Preservation & Development, the Housing Development Corp., and Goldman Sachs, Asland founder and CEO James Simmons told Crain’s.  “We are confident in our ability to enhance the quality of living for our residents while ensuring the long-term viability of these valuable properties,” Simmons said.

L+M Development, founded in 1984, declined to comment on the sale.

Asland has other recent experience with affordable projects in the city.  Last year, in collaboration with Midtown-based developer Douglaston, and nonprofit Breaking Group, Asland had partnered with the NYC Housing Authority on an $81 million rehabilitation project.  That 7-building apartment complex, known as Sack Wern Houses in the Soundview neighborhood of the Bronx, includes 849 units.  Each of the six-story buildings will undergo major repairs under the direction of Asland.  Construction at the site is slated to begin in the Fall.

“The partnership at this development demonstrates exactly the kind of creative approach this administration is taking to advance complex, expensive revitalization projects. Resident voices have been front and center every step of the way, and the result is going to be significantly improved quality of life for all the residents of Sack Wern Houses,” NYC Mayor Eric Adams said.

The Bronx buildings, built in 1941, will see significant upgrades, with about $234,000 in repair costs being poured in per unit, representing a significantly higher investment than NYCHA’s average of $187,000 per unit.  The building exteriors, elevator systems, electrical wiring, heat and hot water infrastructure will also be upgraded.  The NYCHA pamphlet outlining the project described the developer saying: “Asland Capital Partners is a minority-owned firm with over 20 years of experience operating and preserving affordable and workforce housing throughout the United States.”