Alto Real Estate Fund sells Manhattan retail condo for $34.5 million

ALTO purchased the property with the Klein Group in the beginning of 2012 for $20 million, in an off-market deal.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
The ALTO Real Estate Fund (photo credit: Courtesy)
The ALTO Real Estate Fund
(photo credit: Courtesy)
The ALTO Real Estate Fund has sold its shares in a retail condo in the heart of downtown Manhattan financial district for value of $34.5 million.
ALTO purchased the property with the Klein Group in the beginning of 2012 for $20 million, in an off-market deal, with approx. $6 million in equity and a non-recourse loan for 7 years from the Valley National Bank.
The 21,000 SF retail condo property sold is situated about 400 near the new World Trade Center and a block away from the Fulton Street Transit Center, a large transportation center with a central station for 12 subway lines and PATH trains from New Jersey, which is due to open in June 2014 and to serve the passengers coming to the renewed downtown area.
The property lies on the ground floor of an exclusive apartment building.
At the time of purchase, Fulton Street was nearing the end of a comprehensive renovation of its infrastructure, made necessary because of its proximity to the large transportation center damaged in the September, 2001 attacks. The area has been under renovation at a cost of $1.5 billion since 2004, in order to improve accessibility for the half million passengers who reach the area every day. Due to the lengthy renovation period the seller had difficulty in renting out available space, therefore the property was purchased with only a 52% occupancy rate, which enabled ALTO to significantly upgrade the property.
Now, less than 2 years after purchase and with the upgrade in place, ALTO is selling its share in the property for a value of $34.5 million, which yields a gross profit (before expenses) of 3.2 times the equity invested in the transaction. This is ALTO ’s sixth exit, with an average of 36% net IRR for the investors.
The ALTO Fund, which operates from offices in 1 Rockefeller Plaza (NYC) and Tel Aviv, is in the process of raising money for a second fund of $100 million, which will continue to focus on investment with a value-added approach for income-producing commercial real estate in the US.
The fund is designated for private and institutional investors all over the world.