NYU Acquires Kips Bay Apartments for $210M

New York University has acquired a 23-story luxury residential building adjacent to its Kimmel Pavilion inpatient care facility.

The purchase: The university paid $210 million on August 30 to purchase The Lanthian apartments at 377 East 33rd Street from Verbena Road Holdings, a California-based company run by Dallas-based investor Dennis Wong.

The reasoning: NYU had previously leased several residential units in the building for faculty or staff housing, as well as the building's entire commercial office premises (for the Admissions Office and physician offices) dating back to the late 1990s.

The university said it plans to operate the property as a strategic mixed-use asset, given its proximity to the Manhattan main campus. The residential units will be used to house faculty, staff, and trainees. The purchase will also enable NYU to dispose of third-party leased units in the neighborhood.

A little backstory: The building at the corner of East 33rd Street and First Avenue has changed hands several times since it was built in 1998. Wong purchased the 209-unit building in 2015 from real estate investment trust AvalonBay Communities for about $173 million. In 2019, Verbena used a $103 million loan to upgrade residences and common areas in the building.