Fall River apartment complex sells for $3.75 million

“We like Fall River,” Chaletzky said. “We find it is a good rental market and we have good tenants."

FALL RIVER – Stephen Chaletzky celebrated the 100th anniversary of his family company by spending a lot of money in one of his favorite cities: Fall River.

The Hearthstone Corporation of Newton paid $3.75 million for the 50 apartments in the brick buildings from 655 to 735 N. Main St.

“We like Fall River,” Chaletzky said. “We find it is a good rental market and we have good tenants.

“We are looking to buy more, if we can. We’ll look at the North Main Street area because we are there now.”

Hearthstone is a real estate management company that began in 1918. The current company registered as a corporation in 1978 and changed its name from Norge Management Corp to Hearthstone Corporation in 1985.

“The first company we named after my uncle, Norman, and my father, George,” he said.

The company already owns The Masonic Temple Apartments, 150 N. Main St., that has 31 units.

“We’ve had people move from Boston to Fall River and then commute to Boston,” Chaletzky said. The difference in rent between the cities is that great, he said.

The Masonic Temple is currently full. Chaletzky said he expects to keep the new property, 655-735 N. Main St., filled as well.

“We plan on cleaning it up and taking care of some repairs that need to be done,” he said. “We will install an intercom and door release. It doesn’t have that yet. We will also do some landscaping.”

The property was listed with NAI Hunneman of Boston. Carl Christie was the broker.

“There is interest by investors in Fall River for sure,” he said. “We’ve sold a couple of other properties recently.”

Though prices in the city are rising for apartment buildings, they remain a bargain, Christie said.

“When you look at the price per unit or the price per square foot, the price is good,” he said. “You couldn’t build it for that price.”

Plus Fall River does well when investors look at a number called Cap Rate Compression. It is the average profit allowed after all the bills are paid.

In Boston, Cap Rate averages between 3 and 4 percent. In Fall River the averages are 6 to 7 percent, Christie said.

“You will get a good return and you are buying below replacement cost,” he said.

For Hearthstone, no great changes are planned for the property, Chaletzky said.

“We’ll feel our way around to see what it needs,” he said. “We’ll make it look pretty. That is the first step.”

Email Kevin P. O’Connor at koconnor@heraldnews.com.