Orbach Buys 33-Building M-F Portfolio in Manhattan for $250M

By Scott Baltic, Contributing Editor

 In a two-part transaction, The Orbach Group  has purchased a 33-building, 1,031-unit high-end multi-family portfolio on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, for about $250 million, Orbach announced Friday. The seller was a joint venture of Heritage Real Estate Partners and Dune Capital.

In the second part of the transaction, immediately Orbach sold off 11 of the buildings, totaling 499 units, to two private buyers for about $100 million.

The 22 buildings that Orbach retains, all in the Columbia South neighborhood, are a mix of elevator buildings and walk-ups and include a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units with market rents ranging from $2,400 to $4,400 a month.

The average occupancy is 96 percent, Meyer Orbach, president of The Orbach Group, told Commercial Property Executive.

Orbach acknowledged that the transaction was “very complex” and said that the company “signed a hard contract on the entire portfolio” and only later contracted to sell off some of the 33 buildings. All closings were done simultaneously on Thursday morning, he said.

The Orbach Group reportedly plans to undertake a capital improvement program for the newly acquired buildings, including common-area upgrades, plus renovations of individual units, as needed.

With this net addition of 22 buildings totaling 532 units, The Orbach Group now owns and manages 54 buildings in Columbia South between 101st Street and 114th Street alone, with plans to acquire additional properties.

“Manhattan’s rental market is at an all-time high, and Columbia South in particular continues to be a vibrant, in-demand community among residents interested in luxury apartments,” said Orbach in a release. He added that the company’s multi-family portfolio “is now one of the largest in the Upper West Side.”

“Demand for market-rate rentals remains robust” throughout New York City, with an overall vacancy rate of just 2.3 percent, according to a third-quarter report from Marcus & Millichap. Effective rent growth in Manhattan over the past year averaged 3.7 percent.