By: Benyamin Davidsons

Blackstone, the New York City-based investment management giant, has purchased a minority stake in an oversized Lower East Side mixed-use project.

As reported by Crain’s NY, Blackstone bought a roughly $171 million stake in a 30-story project at 55 Suffolk St, property records show. The mixed-use project, dubbed The Suffolk, is led by developer the Gotham Organization. The deal is part of a $200.5 million financing package the development scored from Wells Fargo. Blackstone purchased the stake from Goldman Sachs through its Blackstone Strategic Partners, an affiliate company fund which manages $69 billion worth of assets.

Blackstone and Gotham declined to comment on the transaction. Representatives for Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo also did not respond to Crain’s requests for comment.

The Suffolk, which cost $236 million, was completed in 2023, and spans 400,000 square feet, per Gotham’s website. The project includes 378 luxury apartments, of which 75% are market-rate and 25% are affordable. The project also features retail space on the ground floor and houses the headquarters for the Chinese-American Planning Council. The lower east side building was designed by Dattner Architects and JG Neukomm Architecture.

Outdoor amenity spaces at the building include a rooftop pool deck and an outdoor terrace with lounge seating, fire pits, and barbecue grills, per NY Yimby. Tenants also enjoy access to a full-floor indoor amenity suite with coworking spaces, conference rooms, a resident lounge, and a chef’s kitchen. The building also boasts a fitness club and yoga studio, a package room, resident storage, a bike room, laundry facilities, and an on-site personal concierge. “We set out to design a building that would offer the best of modern living while embracing the rich history and varied culture of the Lower East Side,” said David Picket, president at Gotham Organization. “Like all of our buildings, The Suffolk serves as both an homage to the neighborhood and a modern oasis for our future tenants.”

Apartments at the Suffolk are available at various sizes, including standard studios, one-, two-, and three-bedroom units. The building also offers three floors of micro-units, debut under Abode by Gotham, where each unit measures between just 315 to 350 square feet and features a built-in Murphy Bed, sofa, and storage. Residents of Abode by Gotham’s compact residences will still have access to all amenities within the building under a club membership, as well as their own dedicated lounge, chef’s kitchen, tenant storage, and laundry facilities.

The Suffolk is major part of Gotham’s Broome Street Development, which also features The Norfolk, nearby at 64 Norfolk St. That 16-story building offers 115 affordable senior-living apartments.

Per Crain’s, New York rental prices reached all-time record highs last year and seem positioned to go up again this summer. This uptick is mostly due to the steadily high interest rates, which keep potential homebuyers renting in the apartment market rather than purchasing a home with a new mortgage. Rental prices at The Suffolk range from $4,690 for a studio to $11,700 for a three-bedroom, per StreetEasy.

Blackstone was also recently in the news with a major purchase in the multifamily market. The company inked a deal in April to purchase Apartment Income REIT, known as AIR Communities for about $10 billion. Per Crain’s, Blackstone also recently sold a portfolio of its industrial properties in Queens and New Jersey.