Sound Shore

It’s official. Hartz Mountain Industries is the new owner of the 24-story Avalon on the Sound building at 255 Huguenot St. Company spokesman Ron Simoncini confirmed the sale today.

The New Rochelle property, which has 412 apartments, was owned by Avalon Bay Communities and was one of two Avalon on the Sound towers built in New Rochelle.  AvalonBay Communities will remain as owners and operators of the second building at 588  Memorial Highway.

Hartz, a New Jersey real estate company, bought the property in a 1031 exchange requirement, a practice where companies sell  and buy at the same time, allowing them to defer capital gains taxes. Hartz sold its 277-unit, four-property Town & Country Portfolio, located in Westwood and River Vale, New Jersey.

The New Rochelle Industrial Development Agency approved the transfer of a land agreement on the property at its March 24 meeting. Simonoci said he would provide more details of the sale later today.

CB Richard Ellis’ New York Institutional Group represented Hartz Mountain Industries in the sale. Jeff Dunne, of CB Richard Ellis, offered this statement in a press release: “Hartz Mountain has acquired, in 255 Huguenot Street, a trophy-quality Class A apartment community immediately adjacent to the Amtrak/Metro North rail station and the many retail amenities in downtown New Rochelle. Hartz’s acquisitions meet their 1031 exchange need and their goal to diversify their real estate holdings into multi-family properties.”

AvalonBay Communities has agreed to make $9 million in land payments to the City of New Rochelle over the next five years, about two decades ahead of schedule, city officials said today.

The company, which owns two residential towers downtown, has agreed to pay $3 million in 2010 that was supposed to have been paid in 2029. It will also pay $1.5 million annually starting in 2011 and ending in 2014, money that was not due until 2035.

City officials asked the company to make donations to the city to help deal with dwindling revenues in a tough economy. That request, first made by Councilman Louis Trangucci in September, resulted in months of negotiations and finally an agreement for advance payments.

Trangucci said he wanted AvalonBay to help out because the company has a generous tax agreement with New Rochelle that absolves it of city, school and county property taxes on its buildings until 2028. Instead, AvalonBay makes payments to the city that amount to about $650,000 a year.

Five New Rochelle interior designers will put their work on display during the 12th Annual Accent on New Rochelle House Tour on Oct. 25. Designers Michelle Sanchez Boyce, Venera Evanko, Susan Simone Halliburton, Timothy McVey and Chenoa Maxwell are using merchandise exclusively from businesses within the city’s downtown Business Improvement District.

The showcase is presented by the New Rochelle BID, which created family profiles to inspire the designers’ creations. The work will be featured inside a two-bedroom and a three-bedroom apartment at Avalon on the Sound East, 40 Memorial Highway. Proceeds will benefit the Solomon Katz Breast Center at Sound Shore Medical Center. For more information, visit the BID’s website.  For a preview, here are pictures taken by Journal News photographer Angela Gaul.