Shaker Boulevard apartments sell for $12.4 million

Out-of-state buyers recently snapped up a pair of large East Side apartment properties, in a deal that speaks to high demand for multifamily real estate.

The Vista at Shaker Square and the Residences at Shaker Square sold as a bundle in early January for $12.4 million, according to public records. The midcentury properties on Shaker Boulevard in Cleveland span 250 units.

The seller was an affiliate of North York Capital, a New York-based investment company that owned the buildings for only two years.

The buyer was a joint venture between Chicago-based AMG Realty Group, led by Adam Glickman, and the Chetrit family, major players in New York real estate.

“You have very sophisticated, shrewd investors that are continuing to buy deals in this market,” said Gary Cooper, a senior vice president and principal with the Colliers real estate brokerage in Cleveland.

Colliers represented the seller. The properties were on the market for about 45 days, Cooper said.

The buildings, at 12500-12600 Shaker Blvd. and 12701 Shaker Blvd., are a short walk west of Shaker Square. They sit on opposite sides of the boulevard, separated not only by the road but also by Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority train tracks.

North York Capital bought the properties in late 2019 and planned to renovate them. But the company only did part of that work before listing the buildings for sale. Cooper said roughly 80% of the apartments still need upgrades.

Yet North York Capital was able to flip the complexes to new owners — and to do so at a profit, he said. Public records don’t reveal what the company originally paid.

Glickman and the Chetrits aren’t new to Northeast Ohio. Last year, AMG bought another building named the Vista — a 949-unit behemoth in Euclid, overlooking Lake Erie — out of foreclosure and receivership. And in 2019, the Chetrit Group established a foothold in the region as part of the purchase of a nationwide portfolio from ROCO Real Estate.

The new owners plan to continue sprucing up the Shaker Boulevard properties in a bid to boost occupancy.

“These are serious investors,” said Cooper, who worked on the deal with colleagues Anthony DeMarco and Peter Grealis. “These are not guys that overpay and not guys that don’t know what they’re doing. And they don’t lose money.”