September 11, 2015
Willkie represented B&L Management Company in connection with the $690 million sale of 24 apartment buildings located in Chelsea and the Upper East Side in Manhattan.
On September 10, 2015, B&L Management Company, a Willkie client, announced that it sold 24 mid-rise rental apartment buildings, consisting of 997 residential and commercial units located in the Chelsea and Upper East Side of Manhattan, to a joint venture led by Blackstone Real Estate Partners VIII and Fairstead Capital for a total purchase price of $690 million. This transaction represents one of the largest individual residential asset sales in New York in the past decade and one of the largest sales of an elevator-building residential portfolio in Manhattan history.
B&L Management Company, founded in 1980 by Benny Caiola, specializes in the development and management of residential multi-family apartment buildings in New York City. The family business is owned by his wife and four children, and operated by his sons Luigi and Alfred. B&L Management Company continues to own, acquire, develop, and manage new value-add residential and retail properties in New York City and Long Island.
The transaction was handled by partners Gordon Caplan and David Drewes, and associates Justin Elliott and Jacob Moss.