There may be no more fiercely guarded Monopoly board in America than the six blocks of Bleecker Street between Seventh Avenue South and Hudson Street in the West Village. Bobby Cayre's Aurora Capital and the storied William Gottlieb estate teamed up to pay $27.5 million ($1,100 a square foot) for the contiguous three-building mixed-use row at 312-316 Bleecker Street, combining four jewel-box storefronts with 24 free-market apartments upstairs. When the deed closed on January 20, 2026, Aurora Capital Associates (Bobby Cayre) and William Gottlieb Real Estate had officially taken down 312-316 Bleecker Street from Centaur Properties (Harlan Berger) for $27.5 million, with JLL Capital Markets brokering the trade.
Look past the headline figure and the story is all about the basis reset. The 25,000-square-foot building last traded in June 2016 for $31 million. Stepping in at $1,100 a square foot—or $982,143 a door across its 24 apartments— shaves 11.3 percent off that prior valuation, giving Aurora Capital Associates (Bobby Cayre) and William Gottlieb Real Estate a margin of safety that would have been unthinkable at the top of the cycle. Even better for the buyers, the in-place rent roll hands them a verified 5.80 percent going-in cap rate from day one.
Why Apple Bank Loves Low-Leverage West Village Gems
The real tell in any Manhattan closing sits on the debt side of the ledger. To fund the purchase, Aurora Capital Associates (Bobby Cayre) and William Gottlieb Real Estate locked in a $16.5 million senior commercial acquisition loan from Apple Bank for Savings at 60 percent loan-to-value.
That loan commitment meant the buyers only needed to write a $11 million equity check to control a 5-story, 1910-vintage West Village asset. Credit committees aren't stretching to 75 percent leverage anymore, but when a sponsor brings $11 million of real cash equity and a basis of $1,100 a square foot, lenders like Apple Bank for Savings are wide open for business.
From Our Desk
When we look at 312-316 Bleecker Street on our placement desk at Light Tower Group, the lesson for New York sponsors comes down to the marriage of entry basis and lender selection. Aurora Capital Associates (Bobby Cayre) and William Gottlieb Real Estate didn't try to fight the tape—they bought West Village footage at $1,100 a square foot and paired it with the exact lender bucket built for this business plan. A 60 percent loan from Apple Bank on free-market West Village apartments over Bleecker Street retail is the closest thing New York real estate has to a Swiss government bond.