Jersey City’s 90 Columbus 75% leased after 5 months on market
Ironstate Development and Panepinto Properties’ 539-unit luxury apartment development at 90 Columbus in downtown Jersey City recently hit the 75 percent leasing mark, NJBIZ reported. The 51-story tower located steps from the Grove Street PATH station achieved that stabilization milestone on April 30 after a five-month leasing effort, according to ROI-NJ, which noted that leasing began in October 2018. The development is the fourth tower and final phase of Panepinto’s “Colombus Collection,” which consists of 1,484 rentals, a hotel, parking and retail space. The project’s developers secured a five-year tax abatement for the site in 2016. According to RE-NJ, Panepinto acquired the 6.4-acre site, a former rail yard, in 1998 from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. In 2007, Panepinto and Ironstate opened 50 Columbus and introduced 400 units to the local housing stock. Another 50-story residential tower, the 454-unit 70 Columbus, opened in 2015. [NJBIZ]
Toll Bros breaks office ground at Hoboken mixed-use site
An 110,800-square-foot office component at Maxwell Place, homebuilding giant Toll Brothers’ mixed-use development in Hoboken, broke ground last week, according to Commercial Property Executive. The development at 1000 Maxwell Lane includes three residential towers, 755 condos and street-level retail. Transwestern Commercial Services was tapped last year by Toll Brothers to handle leasing for its office portion of the site, which the brokerage claims is Hoboken’s first speculative office development of the current economic cycle. According to Jersey Digs, Toll Brothers and the City of Hoboken have modified the Maxwell Place master plan over the years. Toll Brothers was approved for 125,000 square feet of office space in April 2018. Toll Brothers City Living, the urban for-sale arm of the luxury residential developer, launched condo sales in April 2016 at uptown Hoboken’s 1400 Hudson Street. The developer ultimately delivered 236 for-sale residences ranging from studio to three-bedrooms priced between $600,000 and $2 million per unit. [CPE]
KRE snags $50.4M construction loan for Bayonne luxury project
PNC Bank and People’s United Bank agreed to underwrite a $45 million construction loan and a $5.4 million predevelopment loan for KRE Group’s first project in Bayonne, according to NJBIZ. The development, known as Harbor Station North, will add 200 luxury residential units and 10,000 square feet of retail space proximal to Route 440 and the 45th Street Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Station. Bridgewater-based KRE, founded by developers Murray Kushner and Eugene Schenkman, said the $45 million construction loan has a three-year maturity. A site plan for Harbor Station North, located at 151 Centre Street, shows that it will comprise three residential buildings, two parking lots and 10,000 square feet of retail within a 16-acre site. According to meeting minutes last year from the City of Bayonne, the Harbor Station North site was previously assigned to Fidelco Bayonne Realty as part of a sale of portions of the old Bayonne Military Ocean Terminal. In early 2017, Bayonne also cleared the way for the construction of a 65-unit development at 676-688 Avenue E, directly across from KRE’s Harbor Station North development. [NJBIZ]
Cross River Bank closes off-market building trade in Fort Lee
Cushman & Wakefield closed last week on the off-market sale of a 70,000-square-foot office building in Fort Lee to Cross River Bank, NJBIZ reported. The Cushman team represented the Teaneck-based buyer on its acquisition of 2115 Linwood Avenue from Mack-Cali Realty. According to a news release from the brokerage, Cross River will relocate 200 employees from its current location to the new site and will add more than 250 new jobs. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Cross River, which operates in the fintech space, had reportedly been considering a relocation of its headquarters to Orangeburg, New York, in Rockland County. According to research from CBRE Group, the average leasing rate in the Palisades office submarket reached $28.01 per-square-foot during the first quarter of this year, while availability hit 14.8 percent. Mack-Cali, a Jersey City-based real estate investment trust, has been busy this year buying and selling properties as it battles New York-based activist investor Bow Street Capital. Mack-Cali has said it completed a $563 million asset disposition at an average capitalization rate of 5 percent during the first quarter of 2019. [NJBIZ]
Jersey City’s University Place touts redevelopment milestone
Developers Circle Squared, the Claremont Companies and the Morristown-based Hampshire Companies broke ground last week on the next phase of the University Place redevelopment on Jersey City’s West End, Multi-Housing News reported. The joint venture partners are poised to deliver 199 residential units and 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space for a project known as RIVET 2 at 26 University Boulevard. The property will consist of 102 one-bedroom units, 13 two-bedroom units and 84 studio apartments. The site is close to the West Side Avenue Hudson-Bergen Light Rail station and complimentary shuttle service from RIVET 2 to the Journal Square PATH station will be offered to residents. The University Place master plan includes the construction of eight buildings totaling 1,000 luxury residential units, 120,000 square feet of retail space and green spaces and academic facilities for New Jersey City University. According to the Gothic Times, NJCU leased the land to developers Claremont and KKF University Enterprises LLC — another NJCU developing partner — for 50 years. The University Place redevelopment, estimated at $400 million, opened its first residential building in October. [MHN]
Logistics company buys 121K sf warehouse in Clifton
Teterboro-based NAI James E. Hanson brokered the sale last week of a 121,000-square-foot warehouse in Clifton to local transportation and logistics firm Shawnee Transportation, ROI-NJ reported. JRAM Investment Company unloaded 50 Somerset Place for $106 per square foot, or roughly $12.8 million. NAI advised the buyer, Shawnee, in the transaction. The company, previously based in Carlstadt, will now occupy 60,000 square feet at its new industrial property, which is located two miles from the Garden State Parkway and less than a mile from Route 3, and will reportedly look to lease out the remaining space. According to research from Jones Lang LaSalle, year-to-date net absorption in New Jersey reached 3.2 million square feet, driving total vacancy down to 3.1 percent for 2019. Asking rents per square foot reached $9.85 at the end of the first quarter, according to JLL, which said there is 459,822 square feet of industrial construction taking place in the Route 3, 23 and 46 submarket. The Real Deal reported earlier this year on the booming market for industrial properties in northern New Jersey, where in e-commerce and traditional retailers have been busy snapping up Class A space. [ROI-NJ]
Developer, NY Waterway exec opens Cedar Knolls specialty gym
High-end, specialty gym operator Iron Culture opened a 7,500-saquare-foot facility in Cedar Knolls last week, according to ROI-NJ. The company, co-founded by Arthur Imperatore Jr., son of veteran developer Arthur Imperatore Sr. vice chairman of New York Waterway and president of Weehawken-based Romulus Development, set up its first location at 8 East Frederick Place as part of a joint venture with two other parties. (The junior Imperatore is the son of New York Waterway founder and veteran Garden State developer Arthur Imperatore Sr.) A press release from Iron Culture said that the Cedar Knolls location, located at the intersection of I- 287 and U.S. Route 24, represented a $500,000 investment to renovate the site and acquire equipment. The so-called hardcore gym has reportedly already gained more than 300 members and attracted nearly 7,000 Instagram followers. Other investors in Iron Culture include entertainment executive Charles Addessi and community activist Sergio Granados. [ROI-NJ]