Harvard Sells Majority Stake in NYC Properties for $244 Million

Harvard Management Company has sold its majority stake in a portfolio of properties scattered around New York City to Blackstone Group for nearly $244 million, according to documents filed with the city Wednesday.

A&E Real Estate Holdings and Edge Principal Advisors hold minority stakes in the 13-building portfolio, which includes buildings in Manhattan and Queens.

According to The Real Deal, a real estate news site, the buildings are part of two portfolios that A&E acquired in 2013 and 2015. A&E is one of the city’s largest landlords and owns more than 200 buildings. In documents filed with the city, all but one of the buildings are classified as apartment buildings.

The sale comes after HMC decided to spin off its real estate management arm to Bain Capital. In February, former HMC employees will start a group at Bain to manage HMC’s $3.4 billion real estate portfolio.

Last May, Bloomberg reported HMC was planning to sell around $1.6 billion in real estate assets, despite experts’ predictions that HMC would increase reliance on alternative assets. Analysts said the endowment's new CEO N.P. Narvekar, who arrived at Harvard in Dec. 2016, might be more likely to shift towards alternative assets given his history of specializing in hedge funds, private equity, and real estate.

The sale comes at the end of a tumultuous year for the endowment, during which HMC shrunk its internal staff, implemented a generalist management structure, and transitioned some of its portfolios so they fall under management by external companies.

A spokesperson for HMC declined to comment on the sale Friday.

—Staff writer Eli W. Burnes can be reached at eli.burnes@thecrimson.com.