By: Benyamin Davidsons 

BlackRock, the New York City-based investment management company, sold a 16-story residential tower on the Upper West Side.

As reported by Crain’s NY, the firm sold the 133-unit rental building at 98 Riverside Drive for $90 million.  The sale closed on May 9, transferring to the new owner, Morris Schreiber’s Schreiber Realty.  BlackRock had owned the apartment building since 2008.  The prewar building was constructed in 1929. It is currently well-occupied, with only three units available, as per StreetEasy.  The landmarked, luxury building boasts 24-hour doorman service, a gym, and views of the Hudson River and Riverside Park.  A 1,250 square foot, 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom apartment in the building is currently listed, asking $7,595 per month.

Founded in 1988, BlackRock is the world’s biggest asset manager, with $10 trillion in assets under management, as of January 2022.  On May 10, a day later, Blackrock also closed on the sale of another NYC building.  The firm sold a 142,000-square-foot building at 56 Seventh Ave. in the West Village. The 20-story prewar building, named the Candela Tower, was sold for $102 million.  The buyer was John Usdan’s Midwood Investment.

That real estate company was founded in Brooklyn some 90-years ago by Usdan’s grandfather.  The 158-unit building was built in 1931, but all the units have been renovated recently.  About 40 percent of the units in the building are rent-stabilized.  Located on 14th street and Seventh Ave, this rental building also offers a 24-hour doorman, on-site manager and gym, with views of downtown and midtown Manhattan.

There are two units currently listed as available, as per StreetEasy.  A one bedroom, one bathroom unit is asking just under $6000, while a 3 bedroom, 3.5 bath unit offering 2,000 square feet of space is asking $22,000 per month.    BlackRock had also purchased this building back in 2008, for an undisclosed price.  BlackRock didn’t comment on the sales.

Not to worry though. Despite the two sales, BlackRock is hardly divesting itself of New York.  While many banks and investment firms decided to move its employees out of the Big Apple, it still have plans to move its New York employees to a new office space at 50 Hudson Yards later this year or in early 2023. As per Crain’s, the company actually received a $25 million state tax credit to keep its staff here in the city, and to create jobs.