Fairfield buys Bay Shore apartment properties for $59.6 million

A portfolio of five apartment complexes in Bay Shore has been purchased by rental landlord Fairfield Properties for $59.6 million, according to brokers on the deal.

Fairfield, a Melville-based landlord and the largest owner of rental housing on Long Island, completed the purchase on Feb. 1, and is expected to make improvements to the properties, brokers on the deal said.

The purchased properties, totaling 228 rental units, include the Hedges, an 88-unit complex located at 405 E. Main St.; the Maples, a 39-unit complex at 11 S. Saxon Ave.; the 45-unit Laurels property at 92 S. Clinton Ave.; the Birches, a 28-unit property at 91 S. Clinton Ave.; and the Pines, a 28-unit property at 21 Brentwood Rd.

The portfolio also included a vacant single-family home at 88 S. Clinton Ave. between the Laurels and an existing Fairfield property, Fairfield Arms at Bay Shore.

Executives with Fairfield did not return requests seeking comment.

“It’s an opportunity for the properties to be improved with new ownership,” said John Thomas, managing partner with Select Real Equity Advisors of Huntington Station, whose firm represented both the buyer and seller, the Wimmer Estate, in the deal. “Their typical brand is to go in and improve the quality of the communities and the units that they lease.”

Thomas said Fairfield, who his firm has worked with on a number of sales in the past, did not specify what improvements they planned to make to the apartments, but that it’s expected they will be making changes to building facades and landscaping, as well as renovations to kitchens and bathrooms inside the units.

The properties, originally built in the 1960s by Alfred and Rosina Wimmer, were passed down to their daughter Joan Wimmer, who died in October 2021. The rental buildings stayed in the family’s possession until the sale.

“The estate of the original developers really wanted to make sure it winded up with a good steward,” said Mark Walsh, a managing partner with Select Real Equity Advisors who also worked on the deal. “Fairfield is an excellent buyer. It’s really going to be a win-win situation for Bay Shore and the residents.”

The purchase grows Fairfield’s already-large market presence even more.

Fairfield owns more than 13,200 rental units on the Island, or about one-fifth of all units in private apartment buildings in the region, according to a Newsday analysis of data from the real estate analytics firm CoStar Group, Inc. published in August.

“We considered some very strong offers from other very well qualified purchasers and selected Fairfield as the buyer as we were satisfied with their offer and felt very confident in their reputation to complete the transaction in a timely and professional manner,” trustees to the Wimmer Estate Michael DeMarco and Jim Arvotti said in a joint statement.