A local operator focused on investing in value-add
multi-family properties in Harlem

Who We Are

Founded in 2014, Harlem Real Estate Holding seeks to invest in rent regulated and free market multifamily buildings throughout Harlem. We are local operators, having lived and worked in the area for over 35 years. Our vertically integrated business seeks to acquire and reposition value added multifamily buildings that will benefit from modernizing and a focused asset and property management approach. Target buildings are often pre-war in age with significant deferred maintenance because of being neglected by passive mom-and-pop owners.

Our goal is to provide investors and partners with appropriate risk adjusted returns by repositioning distressed and inefficient assets into stabilized properties.

Investment Strategy

Over the course of our careers the team has developed expertise evaluating and underwriting credit, sizing and pricing risk, investing in residential real estate, conducting due diligence, and leading teams that executed workout strategies on distressed assets. We have been through several economic cycles investing in assets and have learned several things:

Don’t ever overpay for an asset just to be “in the game”.
Be disciplined in the execution of your strategy but stay flexible to handle curve balls
Due diligence upfront is key
There will always be unforeseen surprises on both the up and down side
Don’t overestimate your ability to affect outcomes where you don’t control the circumstances

Given these lessons, the firm strives to apply an institutional style investment process that focuses on:

Integrity, discipline, and accountability.
Robust risk management
Comprehensive due diligence across all facets of an acquisition
Transparency and detailed investor reporting
Active property management

Delivering across all these parameters is our value-added proposition.

Investment Parameters

Multifamily & mixed-use buildings
8 – 50 units
$1M – $15M acquisition price
Rent stabilized apartments with upside potential in the rents
Buildings with deferred maintenance that will benefit from disciplined property management
Close to public transportation
5 to 10-year hold period

Projects

As a local operator we have first-hand experience acquiring, managing and improving value add buildings located in Harlem. Below are pictures of a recent gut renovation that illustrate the type of projects that we take on.

In this building we have renovated 8 of the 16 units where the average rent was $800 before renovations. The renovated units now rent for $1,700. This is an example of the typical value-add building we look to acquire that benefits from our disciplined approach to property and asset management

Abner Figueroa

Abner Figueroa is the principal of Harlem Real Estate Holdings, LLC a boutique real estate private equity firm focused on acquiring and repositioning value-added multi-family properties in Harlem.

Mr. Figueroa has over 20 years of real estate investing and capital markets experience. Over his career he has been involved in executing over $25 Billion dollars of mortgage securitizations and been directly responsible for purchasing $6 Billion of residential mortgage loans.

Throughout his career as an analyst, investment banker, consultant, & investor he has valued residential real estate assets, priced and sized credit risk, conducted extensive due diligence of assets, negotiated legal agreements, and led the workout activities for a $20B distressed mortgage portfolio.

Providing institutional style discipline around pricing, due diligence, and risk management is Mr. Figueroa’s value-added proposition. Executing on this strategy has allowed him over the last 5 years to increase the Net Operating Income by 70% on his current $10mm portfolio.

Mr. Figueroa attended Columbia Business School for his MBA and received a BBA in Finance from The University of Notre Dame.