Despite a bump in big-box inventory in the wake of the A&P bankruptcy, the New Jersey retail real estate market continues to gain strength. Leasing activity remains robust, with strong suburban markets augmented by heightened urban activity. The inventory of properties for sale remains tight, while new development is highlighted by large-scale projects. This year’s major headline has been A&P’s bankruptcy. The sell-off of the grocer’s stores is ongoing, with Stop & Shop and Acme key bidders. Still, the stores remaining unsold are forcing landlords to think outside the box and/or redevelop their shopping centers, providing the opportunity to improve tenant mix and increase lease rates. Meanwhile, these immediate opportunities could slow down nearby projects in the works, including developments that could have come out of the ground in 2016 or 2017. Hot markets include Paramus, a perennial favorite. Also in the north, the redevelopment of Wayne Town Center has attracted Costco, Nordstrom Rack, Saks Off 5th, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and ULTA. In Bridgewater, Whole Foods signed a lease at Bridgewater Crossing, and negotiations are progressing with several major off-price and full-price specialty retailers. In Union County, Clark Commons opened with Whole Foods, LA Fitness, Home Goods, Michaels, Petco, ULTA, …
STAFFORD TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Walters Group is constructing a Five Below store at Stafford Park Shopping Center in Stafford Township. Slated for completion by mid-2016, the 8,176-square-foot retail space will be leased to Five Below under a 10-year contract. The 400,000-square-foot Stafford Park Shopping Center is occupied by Costco, Target, PetSmart, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Best Buy, Olive Garden, AT&T, The Vitamin Shoppe and Ulta Beauty, among others. Walters Group developed the center in 2008.
MONTVALE, N.J. — Englewood Cliffs, N.J.-based Deerwood Real Estate Capital has closed a $9 million non-recourse bridge loan on a multi-tenant office building, located at 50 Chestnut Ridge Road in Montvale. The 100,000-square-foot office building was acquired by the borrower, a private investor group, from C-III, on behalf of US Bank, as a foreclosure. Yaakov Leiser of Deerwood negotiated the financing, which was provided by a regional bridge lender.
MANVILLE, N.J. — Cronheim Mortgage has arranged $28 million in financing for Marketplace at Manville, a shopping center located in Manville. The 15-year loan has a 30-year amortization schedule and a 3.8 percent interest rate. The 294,141-square-foot retail center is occupied by Walmart Supercenter, Reading Cinemas, Dollar Zone, Retro Fitness, GNC, McDonalds, Sleepy’s and Great Clips. Constructed in 1999, the property is managed by Purchase, N.Y.-based National Realty & Development Corp. Andrew Stewart and Dev Morris of Cronheim Mortgage secured the financing, which was placed with AG Life.
MONTVALE, N.J. — JLL has arranged a 15-year lease for FC USA at an office building located at 5 Paragon Drive in Montvale. The company will occupy 70,863 square feet of space at the 119,254-square-foot, Class A office building. FC USA is relocating from 69 Spring St. in Ramsey, N.J., and will occupy a portion of the first floor and the entire second floor at the two-story commercial office building. Phillip Lipper, Thomas Reilly and Scott Lesh of JLL represented the tenant, while Gregory Barkan of CBRE Inc. represented the landlord, Lone Star Funds, in the transaction.
New Jersey and New York City employers have been expanding their ranks this year, allowing New Jersey residents to recognize new opportunities as economic growth in both areas continues to pick up steam. In Northern New Jersey, employment growth continues to follow a positive course as companies in New York City are attracted to the region’s lower operating costs and highly educated workforce. This year, companies are on track to add 29,000 employees, representing a year-over-year expansion of 1.4 percent. This will be the largest gain in jobs created since 2000. Job creation has been highest in the leisure and hospitality industry, as well as education and health services sectors, where 12,200 new jobs were created in the first half of the year. Newly employed professionals in search of affordable housing are opting for rentals in Northern New Jersey, where average rents can be half the cost of the greater New York City area. As a result of this growing demand for Northern New Jersey rentals, developers have expanded the pipeline of multifamily projects to more than 12,000 apartments with completions scheduled through 2017. Developers are on track to deliver over 7,900 apartments this year, representing the widest pipeline and …
For Newark, New Jersey, the well-documented trend toward urbanism and the emergence of creative solutions that position older properties to serve modern needs are creating strong momentum. At a time when leasing activity is ticking upward across the city’s diverse tenant base, it also is becoming clear that Newark’s superior data capacity positions the city to become a hub for tech start-ups and, ultimately, a national hub for the tech sector. For Millennials, Old is “In” According to new Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data, it is estimated that about 53.5 million millennials (adults aged 18 to 34) are part of the U.S. workforce today. Companies run by or interested in attracting millennials — whether focused on technology or any other sector — are gravitating to 24/7 downtown or urban locations. And they are seeking smart, collaborative work spaces. The result? Old is “in” — at least when it comes to tenant preferences for office space. At The Berger Organization, we are stripping antiquated fit-outs and tapping into the popularity of exposed ductwork, open floor plans and loft-inspired architectural elements. The resulting environments speak to modern desires and individual company cultures, while paying homage to their urban …
PARAMUS, N.J. — NorthMarq Capital has arranged $49.4 million of floating-rate financing for a 244,000-square-foot, four-property retail portfolio on Route 17 in Paramus. The borrower, Advanced Realty, will use the loan proceeds for acquisition of the assets and a funding facility for re-tenanting and redevelopment costs. Three of the buildings are located at 289-317 Route 17 South. The properties are occupied by PGA Tour Superstore and P.C. Richard & Son. Located at 60 Route 17 North, the fourth property is a 75,000-square-foot power center occupied by DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse and PetSmart. Gregory Nalbandian of NorthMarq secured the loan through Natixis Real Estate Capital for the borrower.
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — WinnDevelopment has closed on the financing to acquire and renovate an affordable housing property in Jersey City. The $40.2 million acquisition and rehabilitation project will deliver interior and exterior upgrades to Brunswick Estates, a 131-unit income-restricted community. The townhouse-style property features 14 clusters of buildings with apartments ranging from two to five bedrooms, as well as a central building. The public-private partners in the project include The City of Jersey City, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, Citi Community Capital, The Richman Group Affordable Housing Corp., New Jersey Community Capital, Boston Community Capital and Greater Bergen Community Action Inc. Additionally, New York City-based Dane PCG brokered the deal. WinnDevelopment is the development arm of WinnCompanies.
PARSIPPANY AND GARFIELD, N.J. — Madison Realty Capital (MRC) has provided two first mortgage loans totaling $71.1 million for commercial properties in Northern New Jersey. In the first transaction, Madison Realty provided $45 million in acquisition financing for a 404,515-square-foot office property located at 2 Gateway Drive in Parsippany. The undisclosed borrower plans to re-tenant a portion of the property, modernize the property’s common areas and enhance the building’s amenity package. MRC funded $33 million at closing to facilitate the borrower’s acquisition and reserved a future funding component of $12 million for good-news leasing. In the second transaction, MRC provided a $26.1 million loan for the recapitalization of a 1.1 million-square-foot industrial property located at 141 Lanza Ave. in Garfield. Situated on 33 acres, the industrial property includes a warehouse and self-storage space. The undisclosed borrower plans to continue leasing and asset management efforts to fully stabilize the property.