“We are proud of the relationships we developed with our tenants as we owned, operated and maintained these buildings over the last half-century,” said Jay Murnick of Murnick Property Group. “We hope that new ownership will continue to foster those relationships and wish them well in their ongoing endeavors.”

“Over 50 plus years, the seller assembled a portfolio of well built, transit centric, high-rise communities with an operational philosophy of maintaining the buildings to preserve their value,” says CBRE's Dunne. “The Murnick's timing in this sale is opportunistic, as the market demand for this type of property is as strong as we have experienced, though the purchaser will do well with the purchase as renter demand for well-maintained Class B apartments is also at historic levels and expected to continue for years ahead.”

He  notes that in the current multifamily market in the New York suburban markets, well-capitalized, experienced operators are aggressively pursuing and stretching on price to acquire Class B apartments in good, established markets. “This is due to strong rent growth, natural supply constraints and value-add potential,” Dunne says. “It's impossible to build new apartments that will be comparable in rental rate to older Class B assets, which insulates these communities from new competition, thus enabling rents to grow as more renters enter the market.”