Billionaire-backed Oculus Realty quietly acquires $184M in multifamily
Oculus Realty holdings as of early March 2022
By Adam Pincus
Oculus Realty, a firm founded in 2020 that has the backing of California billionaire Nicholas Berggruen, has quietly amassed a New York City multifamily portfolio of 35 buildings with 305 residential units through 25 transactions totaling $183.6 million, according to a PincusCo Media analysis of public records.
The assets are split between Manhattan and Brooklyn, and are almost entirely walkups or small mixed-use buildings. PincusCo tracked the acquisitions of the firm before it was clear who the actual buyer was, using the name Adam J. Semler, who was the signatory for the purchases. Semler, a former COO of York Capital Management, is a member of Oculus, according to a representative from Fenix Living, which manages the properties, but these are not his personal holdings. PincusCo regrets the error.
Oculus Realty is a partnership created in 2020 between a self-described “next-generation real estate investment group,” Firebird Grove, and the investment vehicle for the billionaire investor Nicholas Berggruen, Berggruen Holdings, according to the company website. Oculus plans to acquire more than $500 million in assets in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
“The partnership is targeting a portfolio size in excess of $500 million with a particular focus on under-managed and operationally distressed properties in prime neighborhoods offering significant long-term capital appreciation,” according to the website.
Forbes values Berggruen‘s assets at approximately $2.9 billion, invested in direct private equity, real estate, alternative energy, financial instruments, and basic industry startups, according to its website.
Berggruen Holdings, based in California, owns companies with real estate investments in Newark, New Jersey, California, and internationally.
Oculus made its first purchase in August 2020, a 2-unit, mixed-use building in Greenwood, paying $2.1 million. The firm’s most expensive sale recorded to date was its most recent transaction. Oculus paid the Duell family’s Morgan Holding Capital $32 million for a collection of West Village walkup buildings in a gated cul-de-sac known as Patchin Place.
Prior to that, the most expensive acquisition had been 9 East 68th Street, an elevator building with 15 residential units and 10 commercial units, midway between Madison and Fifth avenues.