In Manhattan’s ultra-competitive real estate market, it’s a rare feat for a buyer to scoop up an entire street at once.
But that’s precisely what happened earlier this month, when investment firm Firebird Grove bought 11 buildings up and down Patchin Place, a gated cul-de-sac in Greenwich Village, from Morgan Holding Capital for just over $32 million.
The quiet alleyway off of West 10th Street is lined by three-story townhouses with a mix of residential and commercial units. Built in the 1840s, their notable past residents have included E.E. Cummings, Theodore Dreiser and Marlon Brando.
The street has been remarkably unchanged since the 1920s and is lit by one of the city’s last remaining 19th-century gas streetlights — though it’s now powered by electricity. The property is a popular stop for walking tours in the village and by the early 2000s had become a hub for psychiatry practices, according to The New York Times.
Firebird Grove, is a “next-generation real estate investment group” based in Soho, according to its website, which says the firm focuses on buying and modernizing historic multifamily and commercial properties.
Records show an LLC linked to GDS Management, owned by Jair Gutierrez, as the buyer, but Gutierrez said he was acting as property manager and identified Fenix Living, Firebird’s property management arm, as the owner.
A representative for Firebird confirmed the purchase but the company did not immediately respond to a request for further information.
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Morgan Holding Capital’s site lists Andrew Duell as its president. The Duell family owns several properties in the city, even after having sold several pieces of their portfolio in 2015 to Extell Development. Paul McCartney recently sold a Fifth Avenue co-op that once belonged to Andrew’s father, Manny Duell, who built the property in 1967. Manny Duell’s wife lived in the unit until her death in 2014.
Morgan Holding Capital did not immediately return a request for comment.