Buffalo, NY commercial real-estate market is on track for a $600 million year

More than $71.7 million in commercial real estate value changed hands in September, led by a Williamsville apartment complex, a bakery warehouse in Lancaster and a senior affordable housing building in Lancaster, according to data from the Erie County Clerk’s Office.

 

Those three deals together amounted to $39.2 million, or more than half of the total deal value in 25 transactions during the month.

 

So far this year, deal activity has surpassed $452 million through the first nine months just in Erie County, putting the market on track for a $600 million year. Last month, the largest deal was the $15.2 million purchase of a pair of apartment complexes at 355 and 395 Evans St. in Williamsville by the Ashley Companies of Rochester, a privately owned real estate investment and management company from Harry and Esther Rosenfeld, through Georgetown Apartments LLC.

 

The first complex, at 355 Evans, consists of seven two-story buildings with 11,520 square feet, built in 1967 on 8.7 acres, and assessed at $5.6 million. The second one, at 395 Evans, has six two-story buildings on 3.4 acres, with 11,714 square feet, built in 1969, and assessed at $3.1 million. Both have pools and parking.

 

In Lancaster, CSM Bakery Products Inc. sold a warehouse facility at 3765 Walden Ave. to AGNL Pastry LLC, a unit of hedge fund sponsor Angelo Gordon & Co. of New York City, for $12.58 million. Located on 8.5 acres, the property is assessed at $3.5 million.

 

Founded in 1988, Angelo Gordon manages $26.5 billion in assets for clients, with almost $13 billion in commercial real estate properties. Its “net-lease” division – AGNL – provides sale-leaseback financing, offering companies that own their own real estate a way to cash out while still leasing their facilities back.

 

CSM Bakery provides bakery ingredients and products such as cakes, cookies, brownies, muffins, mixes, icings, toppings, fillings and pastries to bakeries, consumer food companies, grocers and other retailers. It’s a subsidiary of Amsterdam, Netherlands-based CSM, a global leader in bakery products and natural food preservation, with operations and 9,500 employees in 60 locations.

 

Nearby, Henry Meyer, through Lancaster Towers Associates LP of Pepper Pike, Ohio, sold the Lancaster Towers apartment building for seniors to SRK Caravel Arms Associates LP of Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., for $11.4 million. The 2.3-acre property at 1 Pleasant Ave. is assessed at $6.02 million.

 

SRK also owns the Caravel Arms affordable senior complex in Florida, but the business is managed by Amherst-based Benchmark Group.

 

And Dr. Fadi Dagher, a Buffalo General Medical Center surgeon who has been investing in Western New York real estate, bought a third Waterfront Village office building at 40 LaRiviere Drive. Dagher, through his D&S Capital Real Estate III LLC, paid $6.875 million for the property, adding to two others he bought early this year for $7.2 million.

 

He also bought the Buffalo Tourist Lodge on Main Street near the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, with plans to convert it to a new Sleep Inn or similar hotel, and was part of the investment group that purchased the former Holiday Inn Grand Island at a foreclosure auction. That is now the Byblos Niagara Resort & Spa.

 

In other deals:

 

• Independent Health Association paid $5.9 million to buy 300 Essjay Road from Ciminelli Real Estate Corp., which owns the Centerpointe Corporate Park in which the facility is located. The building purchase is part of an office space shuffle that enables the health insurer to consolidate its offices and employees onto one campus.

 

• Salit Specialty Rebar of Niagara Falls, N.Y., through SSR 1050 Military Road Inc., paid $2.7 million to buy 1050 Military Road in Buffalo from Rochester-based Klein Steel Service Inc. The property is an industrial warehouse and manufacturing facility. Salit, part of Myer Salit Ltd. of Niagara Falls, Ont., is a stainless steel rebar supplier and fabricator.

 

• National Gypsum Services Co. paid $2.64 million to buy 1650 Military Road in Tonawanda from 1650 Military Road Associates LLC, which is linked to Robert Nuchereno of Arista Real Estate. The 3.6-acre property has a 54,920-square-foot warehouse, built in 1964.

 

• Nuchereno’s 1650 Military Road Associates, meanwhile, paid $2.525 million on behalf of Len-Co Lumber to buy 8075 and 8095 Sheridan Drive in Clarence from Trinity Place Holdings Inc., the real estate successor to the bankrupt former clothing retailer Syms Corp. The property is a former Syms store, that is now occupied by Len-Co, with the rest available for lease.

 

• William and Carl Paladino’s Ellicott Development Co., through Pearl Group LLC, bought 500 and 512 Pearl St. in Buffalo from Buffalo Christian Center Inc. for $2.525 million. A mixed-use project is planned for the facility.

 

• Rite West Partners LLC, a Long Island investor, bought a property housing a Rite Aid Pharmacy at 350 Niagara St. in Buffalo from WEC 97A-7 Investment Trust of Houston, an investment security managed by Hines Investment, for $2.1 million.