Madison Realty Capital is buying the Saxon Hall building in the Queen's Rego Park neighborhood for $135 million. The deal is the biggest real estate transaction in the history of Rego Park.
The 16-storey, 503,000-square-foot property located at 62-60 99th Street was paid for $85.3 million by a New Jersey-based Treetop Development in 2013. Dozens of apartment units were renovated, and Treetop listed the building on the market in October for about $150 million.
Steven Vegh of Westwood Realty Associates, who brokered the sale, couldn't be reached for comments as of the mean time. The property, which is priced at about $268 per square foot, has a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units which are all market-rate and rent-stabilized.
Market-rate is ranging from $1,925 to $3,350 per month. The buyer plans to continue to upgrade the apartments and the property's common spaces, said a source familiar with the deal, according to The Real Deal.
Though this is the first major purchase of Madison Realty Capital in Rego Park, the firm has been active in the neighborhood as a lender on properties, such as the Tuhsur Development's condominium project and Millennium 99. Madison is also in contract to buy a 289-unit Midtown East rental known as the Buchanan.
Rego Park is increasingly attracting investors because of the influx of people who want to settle in the area. The 312-unit Alexander at 61-55 Junction Boulevard - atop the Rego Center mall - was recently developed by Vornado Realty Trust. The studios there have monthly rents of more than $2,000.
Madison Realty Capital is one of the leading real estate investment management firms based in Manhattan. Through its integrated structure, Madison has closed in excess of $3.5 billion of real estate debt and equity transactions in the multi-family, office, retail and industrial sectors.
Brian Shatz and Joshua Zegen co-founded the firm in 2004 to pursue U.S. real estate investment opportunities. Since its inception, the firm successfully acquires, manages and exits investments across 28 states.
