New Long Island rental complex sells for $42.85M

A newly built apartment development in Lynbrook has been sold to a New Jersey-based investment firm. 

The Birch Group, headquartered in Jersey City, purchased the 80-unit Cornerstone at Yorkshire, which was developed by Farmingdale-based Terwilliger & Bartone Properties. 

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but real estate sources pegged the sale price at $42.85 million, more than $535,000 per unit. The building was 98 percent occupied at the time of the sale. 

The Cornerstone at Yorkshire brought 28 studio apartments, 44 one- and eight two-bedroom rental units to the 1-acre site formerly occupied by the Capri Motel at 5 Freer St. The rental residences feature oversized windows, energy-efficient stainless-steel appliances, quartz countertops and balconies.   

Amenities at the Cornerstone at Yorkshire include a fitness center, club room and courtyard. The building also features on-site parking for residents.   

Monthly rents at the new Lynbrook development start at about $2,500 for a studio apartment, $2,900 for a one-bedroom unit and about $4,000 for a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment.   

In 2016, Terwilliger & Bartone participated in a competitive request for proposals issued by the Village of Lynbrook to find a developer that would purchase the motel property, demolish it and rebuild something in its place. Construction began in June 2020, when the motel was demolished, and the new rental building was completed at the end of Dec. 2021.  

The Greystar property management staff will remain in place under the building’s new ownership. 

The Birch Group has made some major Long Island investments in the last two years. The company purchased the two-building, 695,000-square-foot Jericho Plaza office complex on 51 acres for $212 million at the end of last year and it acquired the 348,500-square-foot office complex on 8.64 acres at 1979 Marcus Ave. in Lake Success for $62 million in Nov. 2020. 

Financing for the Lynbrook acquisition was arranged by Manhattan-based Greystone. 

Brian Whitmer of Cushman & Wakefield brokered the Lynbrook deal.