Two apartment properties sell for $2.6M

Gordon Ridge Apartments at 157 West Gordon St. in Allentown. (Contributed photo)

A broker for a Lancaster real estate firm recently closed a deal on two apartment complex properties in Bethlehem and Allentown totaling $2.6 million.

The 24 units in Bethlehem sold for $1,565,000 to Casmre G. Development in Queens, N.Y., while the 25 units in Allentown sold for $1,025,000, also to Casmre Development, Matthew Wolf, associate broker for High Associates, said this morning. Wolf represented the buyer and seller in both transactions.

The Bethlehem property, Homestead Apartments, is on 704 Sixth Ave. This property contains 17 one-bedroom units and seven two-bedroom units. The average one-bedroom goes for $795 per month, while the two-bedroom units go for $875. The property was 100 percent occupied at the time of the sale.

“That market in general, with the close proximity to the downtown, they filled those very quickly,” Wolf said. “You are probably seeing a 3 percent rental growth in Bethlehem each year.”

Though the property has had turnover, a majority of the residents have lived there for decades.

At the Bethlehem property, the landlord will redo the electrical systems throughout the building and replace all of the windows, Wolf said. Eventually, the landlord will update the kitchens and bathrooms, he added.

Wolf said he also sold Gordon Ridge Apartments at 157 West Gordon St. in Allentown on the same day to the same buyer. This property has 24 apartment units and one retail space.

Gordon Ridge has four one-bedroom apartments, 18 two-bedroom apartments, one three-bedroom unit and one studio.

In the last five years, occupancy at the Gordon Ridge location has been at about 95 percent, Wolf said. Rents go for $540 for the studio apartment, $575-$640 for the one-bedroom units, $695 for the two-bedroom units and $795 for the three-bedroom unit.

The landlord plans to upgrade the hallways, renovate the units as they turn over and install a coin-operated laundry facility in the basement. Also, Wolf said, the landlord will install an elevator in the five-story building.

Since the property is in downtown Allentown, Wolf has seen strong occupancy at this site as well, he said.

Source: LVB.com