Aurora Capital Takes Over 609 2nd Avenue from Horizon, Leser

Aurora Capital Associates has taken over a slow-selling condo project in Kips Bay.

The firm closed on the remaining 55 condo units and roughly 3,000-square-foot retail space at the base, The Real Deal has learned.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. BKREA’s Bob Knakal represented the sellers in the deal. Knakal did not respond to a request for comment.

Aurora is taking the project over from Horizon Group and Leser Group, who had been the developers on the 65-unit condo project. Aurora did not respond to a request for comment on its plans for the project.

Taking over the Kips Bay property represents the continued shift in strategy for Aurora, which has expanded from its roots as a Downtown retail landlord to developing office, retail and residential properties across cities like New York, Chicago and Miami.

Leser Group has held on to the site for over a decade, after longtime Brooklyn real estate investor Developer Abraham Leser bought four tenement buildings in 2014 for $26.5 million from art dealer Ely Sakhai. Leser partnered with David Marom’s Horizon Group, demolished the buildings, and filed plans for a 30-unit residential building, which were later modified to be an 18-story building with 65 units.

In 2023, the developers secured a $58 million construction loan from Ponce Bank. In November of that year, they filed their plans with the New York Attorney General’s office for the condo project, which had a projected sellout of $105 million.

Fischer + Makooi Architect and ODA are the architects for the project, which has unique undulating curved charcoal balconies and patinated copper-look panels.

The total sellout for the 65-unit building was over $103 million, according to the most recent amendment to the offering plan posted in February.

Sales launched with a team from Douglas Elliman in 2024, but by February, the project had just five units in contract and brought a Serhant team led by Glenn Davis to the project. Five units have closed for a total of $7.4 million, with another five units in contract, according to Marketproof.

Davis did not respond to a request for comment.

Prices ranged from $700,000 for a studio to $4 million for a two-bedroom penthouse, and the average asking price per square foot was roughly $2,000. The development likely suffered from a difficult location on 33rd Street and 2nd Avenue, where some of the closest public amenities are the nearby hospital facilities lining 1st Avenue.

The median sale price in the neighborhood has only appreciated by 4 percent since 2016, according to StreetEasy, and pricier recent new developments, like Naftali Group’s The Willow at 23rd Street and Third Avenue, are far enough south in the neighborhood to make a credible claim at being in Gramercy.

Meanwhile, Kips Bay rents have jumped 50 percent since 2016, following the trends of the city as a whole.

Founded in 2001 by Bobby Cayre, Aurora initially focused on prime Downtown retail corridors, counting itself as one of the largest landlords in Soho and the Meatpacking District, according to the company website.

The firm has since expanded to developing ground-up boutique office and retail projects, as well as residential projects. Last year, the company’s project at 140 Jane Street snagged a signed contract on a penthouse asking $88 million, which would be one of the priciest deals in Downtown history if it closed at that price.

More recently, Aurora and William Gottlieb Real Estate, who is also a partner at 140 Jane, secured a $300 million refinancing package in September at their mixed-use project at 40 10th Avenue.