Greg Fowler’s firm bought 10 Clapboard Road in Danbury and Amir Ben-Yohanan’s bought 150 and 154 Belmont Avenue in Jersey City. (FPAMF, Realtor, West of Hudson Properties, Google Maps)
The tristate area multifamily market got a spark from two recent sales.
Portfolios in Fairfield County and Jersey City traded hands last month for a premium over what they sold for five years back, reflecting strong demand for the asset.
New York’s Timberline Real Estate Ventures sold Hillcroft Village, a 192-unit apartment complex at 10 Clapboard Ridge Road in Danbury, Connecticut, just five miles from Westchester County, for $41.2 million, a person familiar with the matter said.
The buyer was FPA Multifamily, a California-based firm with a portfolio that stretches across the country. Marcus & Millichap division Institutional Property Advisors arranged the sale.
The buildings last changed hands in 2017 for $32.25 million, so the sale represented a 27 percent increase for Timberline.
Separately, West of Hudson Properties, appropriately based in Hackensack, New Jersey, picked up six apartment buildings spanning three neighborhoods in Jersey City for $21.45 million, or 10 percent above the buildings’ last sale price of $19 million.
The portfolio includes 134 units spread across 150 and 154 Belmont Avenue, 201-203 Claremont Avenue, 33-35 Storms Avenue, 35 Kensington Avenue and 590 Bergen Avenue.
The premium price points to the strength of multifamily. New York investors who stood on the sidelines throughout the pandemic have plunged back into the market. And nationally, the hot housing market and consequent demand for single-family rentals have turned eyes to multifamily — an option that has also attracted investors.
Samm Miller, president of Hillcrest Finance, dubbed the sector an investment “darling” this week in a panel discussion hosted by the Counselors of Real Estate.
“We know in any given market those are the safe haven,” she said.
