Elman Investors Buys Former Consulate in Brazil

SAO PAULO, BRAZIL-Elman Investors has purchased a 150,000-sf office building, which housed a former US Consulate, from the US State Department for nearly $10 million. The New York City-based investment firm specializes in purchasing assets from US government agencies, and it is in negotiations with the State Department to purchase another former consulate in Brazil, according to company president Lee Elman.

The office building at Rua Padre Joao Manoel, 933, is in the sought-after Jardim Paulista district, a prestigious address that Elman likens to New York City’s Madison Avenue. Elman has nearly completed negotiations with two tenants, a Brazilian law firm and a telecommunications company. The US Consulate in Sao Paulo has relocated to a new facility.

This is the company’s first purchase of a building from the US government outside of the US. In addition to a second former consulate in Brazil, Elman says that he is also negotiating with the Department of Defense for two sizable facilities in Italy. “This is the start of a pattern,” Elman tells GlobeSt.com. “We are going to be buying more assets abroad owned by the State Department, Department of Defense and Department of Transportation.