Updated: 5:55 p.m., Jan. 4:
The Naftali Group has paid $37 million for a six-story rental building in Chelsea, in an end-of-year, off-market deal with the Haruvi family, Crain’s reported.
The building at 245 West 25th Street, located between Seventh and Eighth avenues, was built in 1938. The six-story, 75,000-square-foot building contains 68 residential units — 22 of them are rent stabilized — and was sold at roughly $500 a foot, a steep discount for the neighborhood.
Victor Sigoura, a Naftali Group executive, said that Naftali’s willingness to fast-track the deal and close before the end of 2012 contributed to the discount. “They were incentivized by the tax changes and that helped get us the price we got,” Sigoura said. “We moved very quickly, we entered into a contract and closed from start to finish in 45 days.”
Marcus & Millichap’s Peter Von Der Ahe, Joseph Koicim and Sean Lefkovits represented the buyer, The Real Deal has learned. “Overall, the sale speaks to investors continued interest in this improving part of Manhattan,” Von Der Ahe said. Naftali intends to spend more than $1 million in renovations, including improvements to the lobby and common areas. Sigoura said that the company will continue to operate the property as a rental. “We think this is a street where rents will continue to rise,” he said.
Naftali Group’s recent deals include a luxury condo development at 176-182 82nd Street and a partnership with SL Green Realty to develop a dorm for Pace University, as The Real Deal previously reported.
The group’s founder Miki Naftali — formerly CEO and president of the Elad Group — was recently profiled by The Real Deal. [Crain’