Israeli Investors Buying Up Bronx Real Estate

I swear I had nothing to do with this. I wish I did, though. The fact is that the Bronx is getting increasing attention in the real estate scene (which I will allude to in a subsequent post), but it is all the more encouraging to me as someone who has been talking about the Bronx for the past year and meeting resistance and cold feet. What is significant here is that these investors see real potential for profit and are less affected by the stigma that has kept locals away. Locals had better get in soon before they lose out on a lot of money.

It would be interesting to find out where in the Bronx they bought these apartments and how much they think they will make as condos.
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Israeli real estate group buying New York flats

by Naama Sikuler Published in Ynet.com (Yediot Aharonot): 01.12.07


Eldan-Tech Ltd., an Israeli real estate group controlled by Yossi Bodenstein, is purchasing an additional 329 apartments in New York for USD 24.2 million.

The acquisition will bring the number of flats owned by the group in the Big Apple to 700.

Last summer Eldan-Tech purchased 372 apartments in the Bronx for rental purposes for an estimated USD 24 million.

In the current deal the real estate group is buying eight buildings – seven in the Bronx and one in Manhattan. The rate of return on 93 percent of the apartments that are currently being rented out stands at 12.4 percent (gross), and is expected to reach 13.6 percent within a year’s time. The net income is expected to reach USD 360,000 a year. [Note: 329 Apartments at $24.2 million is $73,556.23 per apartment.]

The buyers will receive a loan worth 80 percent of the total investment from an American bank.

“We also expect capital gains on the investment due to the increasing demand for apartments in New York in general and for low-cost apartments in the Bronx in particular,” Bodenstein said.

“In the future we will consider a plan to convert some of the buildings into condominiums in order to sell them at prices that would yield capital gains.”