Q&A with Arya Zand of Slope Asset Management, a new multifamily buyer

Slope Asset Management is a new buyer in the New York City marketplace, focusing on free market multifamily real estate investment assets below $20 million. PincusCo reached out to Slope’s principal Arya Zand after reporting on the company’s purchase of adjacent walkup properties, 500A 5th Avenue and 502 5th Avenue in South Slope, Brooklyn, for $5.4 million. This was the first purchase PincusCo had reported on for the company, founded by partners Arya Zand and Ariel Akkad.

The questions and answers from Arya Zand have been slightly edited for clarity.

Q: How much do you plan to acquire in 2023 in NYC and elsewhere.

A: We are pursuing a moderate 2023 growth trajectory in the NYC Metro. We are targeting around $40 million.

Q: How big is your portfolio now, what is the target in five years

A: Slope Asset Management currently oversees eight properties. In five years — five years is a long time — I will say around 40-plus properties.

Q: How did you get into real estate?

A: I have worked in real estate one way or another since I was 12. As a child, my parents required me to work during summer break, either to learn or make some money. I worked to buy my own Gateway laptop and Sony disc player. I first started as an intern for a developer sorting mail and administrative work, then in accounting, project management and overtime experienced the many different roles required to operate a real estate company. Let’s just say, it resonated with me.

Q: What has become of your other company, Odin Capital?

A: Odin Capital was an entity I created around September 2021 to pursue my entrepreneurial interests in real estate. I had a sense of what I wanted to accomplish with Odin Capital and as I networked into early 2022, I realized my 20 years of experience and sweat equity contribution was not enough to start syndicating real estate opportunities. I was being overlooked on most deals due to not owning any real estate, most partnership terms were predatory, and it was hard to pierce the veil. Especially due to covid-related concerns about whether New York would ever recover from an economic downturn. I saw it as an opportunity, and I knew I had to put my ego aside. That is when I connected with my current partner. We had been discussing real estate for over a year, we were both uncompromising about the fundamentals, and we knew we could be more successful joining forces. That is the start of Slope Asset Management. Slope Asset Management is our real estate company that is focused on Park Slope and the surrounding neighborhoods (South Slope, Windsor Terrace, and Greenwood Heights).

Q: Who is on the team, who is a partner?

A: The team consists of my partner Ariel Akkad and me. In addition, we are blessed to have a management team with extraordinary talent, depth, and drive.

Q: How do you find properties — brokers, distress, your own digging?

A: Our research is imperative for building out our acquisition pipeline. In addition, I am fortunate enough to work with brokers who have an uncompromising business acumen that assist me in identifying or acquiring properties. I supplement this with extensive due diligence and instilling confidence with the potential sellers.

Q: What are the target asset classes, sizes, prices?

A: Our primary target is free market buildings that require necessary renovations that will appeal to the evolving market. In addition, in areas we are scaling, we do look at mixed-use and retail assets. Regarding, size and pricing, we have an acquisition framework that allows us to tackle opportunities up to $20 million. With that said, if a bigger opportunity presents itself (within our framework) we will evolve.

Q: What’s the business proposition: stabilize and sell, long term, sell in five to seven years, other?

A: Our plan is to be long term owners and grow equity over time. With that said, we are open to compelling opportunities.