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).
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.
What's going on? Why can we see these here?
