A slow-selling condo tower at the corner of 33rd Street and Second Avenue in Kips Bay has new ownership. Aurora Capital Associates has taken over the 65-unit project from Horizon Group and Leser Group, closing on the remaining 55 unsold units along with roughly 3,000 square feet of retail space.
The deal, first reported by The Real Deal, did not include disclosed terms. Bob Knakal represented the sellers in the transaction, according to the outlet's reporting. Horizon Group and Leser Group had developed the 18-story building together, with the Leser Group's Abraham Leser originally buying four tenement buildings from art dealer Ely Sakhai in 2014 for $26.5 million, per the same account. Leser initially filed plans for a 30-unit residential building before the Leser Group partnered with David Marom's Horizon Group and modified the plans into the current 18-story, 65-unit tower.
From Tenements to a Tower With a Basketball Court
The site's four tenement buildings were demolished to make way for the new structure, which New York YIMBY reported would rise 212 feet and span 74,528 square feet across 65 condominium units when plans were detailed in January 2023. That outlet's early coverage credited The Horizon Group with developing the project, while CityRealty's reporting at the time described the Leser Group as the party moving the building forward — accounts that differ on which partner was driving development. Construction topped out by July 2023, according to a separate New York YIMBY report.
CityRealty's listing page describes 609 Second Avenue as a doorman condominium sitting at the intersection of Kips Bay and Murray Hill, between East 33rd and East 34th streets, with residences designed by ODA and Fischer + Makooi Architects. Units there range from 566-square-foot one-bedrooms to 941-square-foot two-bedrooms, and the building's amenity package includes a 24-hour attended lobby, fitness center, indoor basketball court, residents' lounge, courtyard garden and a landscaped roof terrace with an outdoor kitchen, per the listing. The design also features undulating curved charcoal balconies and patinated copper-look panels, according to The Real Deal's reporting.
Financing, Sellout Figures and a Slow Start
Horizon and Leser secured a $58 million construction loan from Ponce Bank in 2023 to build the project, and developers filed plans with the New York Attorney General's office that November, per the same reporting. An offering plan amendment from February put the building's total sellout above $103 million, while the project had carried a projected sellout of $105 million. Prices have been reported at under $1 million to just under $4 million by therealdeal.com in a prior report, while the more recent reporting lists prices spanning $700,000 for a studio up to $4 million for a two-bedroom penthouse, with an average asking price of roughly $2,000 per square foot.
Douglas Elliman launched sales for the project in 2024. By February 2026, the project had brought on a Serhant team led by Glenn Davis and had only five units in contract, according to The Real Deal's account. Marketproof data cited in that reporting showed five units closing for a total of $7.4 million. CityRealty's listing page separately shows eight apartments currently for sale in the building.
Kips Bay's Rising Rents Meet a Cooling Sales Market
The slow pace unfolded even as the surrounding neighborhood has strengthened. Kips Bay rents have climbed 50 percent since 2016, and the neighborhood's median sale price has appreciated 4 percent over the same span, according to StreetEasy figures referenced in The Real Deal's reporting. CityRealty had earlier described the project rising amid a broader building boomlet in the area.
Manhattan's new-development market as a whole weakened in the third quarter. New-development contracts fell 30 percent year over year, dropping to 240 from 331, while contract volume slipped 13 percent to $961 million from $1.1 billion, according to a separate report from The Real Deal. Manhattan had roughly 3,000 new-development units on the market, about 30 percent below the borough's 10-year average, even as the average closed price per square foot held roughly flat at about $2,070. Just 360 new units hit the market last quarter across 10 Manhattan buildings, while Brooklyn's new-development contracts fell 21 percent to 198 and contract volume dropped 20 percent to $350 million.
Aurora's Growing Footprint Beyond Downtown Retail
Aurora Capital Associates was founded by Bobby Cayre in 2001 and initially focused on prime downtown retail corridors, later expanding from a downtown retail landlord into developing office, retail and residential properties in New York, Chicago and Miami. The company's own website describes it as one of the largest landlords in SoHo and the Meatpacking District. Aurora has been active elsewhere in the city recently, securing a signed contract last year on a penthouse asking $88 million at 140 Jane Street, and partnering with William Gottlieb Real Estate last month to land a $300 million refinancing package at 40 10th Avenue.
