NEW YORK CITY-The new joint venture between Greystone and the Bassuk Organization will give both firms a chance to capitalize further on New York City’s robust multifamily rental market, says one of the deal’s principals. Greystone, the national provider of multifamily and commercial mortgage loans and the Bassuk Organization, which traffics in real estate investment banking services in the Tri-State area, have formed the Greystone Bassuk Group. The new entity will provide expanded real estate and financial services, including creative debt and equity financing, to commercial real estate clients with multifamily assets across the US.

Richard Bassuk, chairman and CEO of the Bassuk Organization, says the deal was in the works for about four months and built on his long working relationship with Greystone founder and CEO Stephen Rosenberg. “I’ve known Steve Rosenberg for 30 years,” Bassuk says. “He had wanted to access the 80/20 marketplace where I have done a huge amount of business. It’s an opportune time to get together.”

Bassuk says the New York market is very attractive for this kind of multifamily product, with the market’s high-return and low-risk factors, from a developer’s point of view. “Rents are high and construction costs are not rock bottom,” he says, “but they’re not where they were in 2007 and 2008. Total land costs are very favorable.”