A&E pays $116.5M to Soloviev Group for 179-unit ‘Rivers Bend’ in Yorkville

A&E Real Estate Holdings, among the top three largest private residential owners in the city, according to a PincusCo accounting, paid $116.5 million to Stefan Soloviev’s Soloviev Group, for the 179-unit Rivers Bend apartment building at 501 East 87th Street in Yorkville, Manhattan, according to sources familiar with the deal. The sale closed March 12, 2025, and has not yet been recorded. The purchase equates to approximately $547,000 per unit.
The purchase is the firm’s first major acquisition in more than two years, a pause that followed an aggressive period of growth concentrated in 2022 that included buying two Equity Residential buildings for $681 million, a $250 million portfolio purchase from LeFrak, and the acquisition of an apartment building from SL Green Realty for $42.6 million.

The purchase also resolves a lawsuit Soloviev filed in December 2024 over a previous effort to sell a majority stake of the building to A&E Real Estate Holdings , in which Soloviev would retain a minority position. However, in the final deal that closed yesterday, A&E Real Estate Holdings acquired a 100 percent interest from Soloviev.

“We are pleased to complete this complex transaction, which required a collaborative approach by both parties over the past year,” said A&E Real Estate co-founder and CEO Douglas Eisenberg said in a statement. “A&E’s acquisition of Rivers Bend reflects our unwavering commitment to New York City and our faith in the enduring strength of Manhattan’s market-rate residential sector.”

S. Charatan Realty president Jack Bick brokered the transaction on the part of the seller, the Soloviev Group, according to sources.

Meanwhile, the investment firm branched from ownership into lending, with modest loans given this year including $10.5 million in the Bronx and $6.3 million in Carnegie Hill.

However the general decline in values of rent regulated assets and higher interest rates have impacted the firm, even as it has other borrowers large and small in the industry. The special servicer for a $506 million loan covering a 3,500-unit portfolio alleged it was in a maturity default and initiated a pre-foreclosure action in late January. A spokesperson for A&E said at the time that the filing was related to negotiations over the debt and the firm had continued to make interest payments.

PincusCo figures indicate the A&E Real Estate Holdings New York City portfolio is worth about $5.5 billion and has about 18,000 residential units, mostly in Queens and Manhattan.

The Soloviev Group has been selling off much of the holdings amassed and built by the late Sheldon Solow, including the $1.8 billion portfolio sale to Black Spruce Management and Orbach Affordable Housing Solutions.

The property

The elevator building with 179 residential units in Yorkville has 202,322 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 151 feet and is 125 feet deep with a total lot size of 16,363 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R10 which allows for up to 10 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $40.9 million. The most recent loan totaled $60.5 million and was provided by Walker & Dunlop on August 31, 2020.

Prior sales and revenue

The 202,322-square-foot property generated revenue of $9.1 million or $45 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has received $3,250 in OATH penalties in the last year.

The property was involved in one lawsuit and zero bankruptcies over the past two years. The suit was a $7 million money judgment concerning a contract filed on December 27, 2023, by the Soloviev Group against A&E Real Estate Holdings.

The neighborhood

In Yorkville, The majority, or 61 percent of the 26.6 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 28 percent of the space. In sales, Yorkville has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $591.9 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 18th highest in Manhattan. For development, Yorkville has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 15th highest in Manhattan. It had 2.6 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 10 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 10 of the 22 commercial properties representing 342,578 square feet of the 459,863 square feet. The largest owner is Burt Cohen, followed by Ditmas Management Corp. and then HUBB NYC. There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Soloviev Group owned at least three commercial properties with 179 residential units in New York City with 1,900,581 square feet and a city-determined market value of $1.1 billion. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $60.5 million in debt, borrowed from Walker & Dunlop. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 89 percent of the 1,900,581 square feet of built space are office properties, with elevator properties next occupying 11 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.

The owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Anthony Calicchio, head officer and Miguel Acosta, site manager. The business entity is 87th St. Realty Company Ii, Llc.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 503 East 87 Street, PincusCo identified two commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. One of those two items was a sale which TZM Realty bought the 8,935-square-foot, 17-unit rental (C7) on 520 East 88th Street for $5 million from Glen Burger on November 26, 2024. One of those two items was a loan which Sky Management borrowed $70 million from M&T Bank secured by the 128,651-square-foot, 142-unit rental (D6) on 511 East 86th Street on January 17, 2024.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.