Thursday, August 31, 2017

Castellan Sells Washington Heights Residential Properties at Profit


Castellan Real Estate Partners is a New York firm that pursues opportunistic transactions spanning equity investment, development, and property asset management. Among Castellan Real Estate Partners’ noteworthy deals was the July 2016 sale of a trio of residential buildings in Washington Heights for $15.4 million. 

The multifamily properties are situated within a 10-block radius and were described as a perfect buying opportunity within a local investment landscape that combines high demand and an expanding number of competitive financing options. 

Constructed in the 1920s, the three buildings include a 20-unit property at 649 West 184th Street, 25-unit building at 325 Wadsworth Avenue, and 24-unit building at 85 Fairview Avenue. These properties were purchased separately by Castellan between October 2012 and February 2013 for a combined price of $7.6 million, or less than half of what was achieved in the 2016 transaction. The deal, involving the same buying and selling parties, marked the second such transaction in Upper Manhattan within a six-month period.

Thursday, August 24, 2017

Weatherization - An Environmental Measure that Benefits Everyone


Castellan Real Estate Partners, headquartered in New York City, serves as a leader in real estate investment. The company purchases, develops, and manages a number of multi-family properties in affordable, sought-after neighborhoods. Over the past decade, Castellan Real Estate Partners has acquired undervalued properties and, after managing them effectively for several years, sold them at double or triple its initial investment.

The company is also serious about reducing its corporate carbon footprint. It has initiated a drive to make all the properties it owns as energy-efficient as possible. Not only is this the right choice for the city’s environment and the company’s tenants, it makes a considerable contribution to the reduction of expenses.

Among the improvements the firm’s leadership has undertaken is the utilization of close to $2 million in grants from the state Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP). Funding from the WAP is available not only to individual homeowners, but to rental property owners as well, based on tenant income eligibility.

New York’s WAP can offer services such as attic insulation, installation of energy-efficient appliances, sealing cracks, renovation of heating systems, repair of mold-causing ventilation bottlenecks, and more. Weatherization services are of particular benefit in New York, which is home to numerous older buildings constructed when energy costs were low. Bringing these buildings up to current standards for energy efficiency increases their value and demonstrates a commitment to tenant comfort and safety.

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Castellan Collaborates with Agencies for Greener Buildings


Based in New York City, Castellan Real Estate Partners has acquired investments valued at approximately $750 million in debt and equity. The company has demonstrated success in purchasing multi-family residential buildings, installing considerable upgrades, and maintaining its properties by working closely with tenants. Castellan Real Estate Partners is also invested in the future and remains committed to planning green renovations throughout the properties in its portfolio. The firm has developed relationships with programs and agencies that have made environmental needs and energy efficiency part of New York’s new way of doing business. 

The Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation, serving Inwood and Washington Heights, is one of several organizations whose weatherization services the firm has used to improve its investments. It has also worked with Brooklyn’s Community Environmental Center, which fights climate change locally, and the Harlem Community Development Corporation, which focuses on reinvigorating that historic neighborhood’s economy. In fact, the Harlem organization specifically chose to work with Castellan to install new solar energy panels on its building on West 141st Street, the first-ever HCDC partnership with a property owner.