Kushner unloads more East Village apartment buildings

329-335 E. 9th St.

Kushner Cos. continues to purge its portfolio of East Village properties. 

According to public records and published reports, the real-estate development firm recently sold six buildings: the four contiguous properties at 329, 331, 333, and 335 E. Ninth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue ($26.9 million), and 516 and 518 E. 13th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B ($11 million). 

According to The Real Deal, the buildings represent 56 residential units and six retail spaces in total. (The new owners are the Baltimore-based JSB Capital Group and Holliswood Development.) This follows multi-building sales from November through January. 

Per Crain's: 

At its peak a decade ago, Kushner Cos. owned about 40 rentals between Third Avenue and Avenue B, and between East 14th and East Houston streets. But in the past few years, it began unloading properties in the neighborhood, some of which have been plagued by legal battles with tenants over alleged construction problems and other issues. 

With the latest deals, the company's portfolio has been whittled by half, and company executives say two other unnamed properties are now in contract. 

"We find ourselves in an environment that has become inhospitable," said Laurent Morali, the company's chief executive. "You can expect to see more sales in the future." 

Inhospitable? Back to Crain's. 

Rules passed as part of pro-tenant reform laws in 2019 have made it more difficult for landlords of rental sites to run the traditional playbook of converting regulated units into pricier market-rate versions. Some landlords have blamed those reforms for stifling the investment sales market. 

But some of Kushner Cos.' units also became entangled in a thicket of long-running tenant lawsuits that execs have blamed on the left-leaning area's antipathy toward former President Donald Trump, who is Jared Kushner's father-in-law and for whom Jared served as a senior White House adviser beginning in 2017. 

At one point, Kushner Cos. was the second-largest owner of East Village residential buildings, trailing only convicted felon Steve Croman. 

Previously on EV Grieve:
• More about Jared Kushner's East Village buying spree

• Tenants claim: Kushner and Westminster want to destroy this building's beautiful garden

• Reports outline how Kushner Companies is aggressively trying to empty 170-174 E. 2nd St.

• Local politicos join residents of 2 Jared Kushner-owned buildings to speak out about poor living conditions, alleged harassment