$50M Pre-Development Loan for NJ Project
The financing was secured by a joint venture developing a nearly 20-acre site in Edgewater that will contain 1,200 units.
615 River Road in Edgewater. Rendering courtesy of FXCollaborative
A joint venture between the Maxal Group, EnviroFinance Group and Equity Resource Investments has received a $50 million pre-development loan from Northwind Group to prepare a nearly 20-acre site along the Hudson River in Edgewater, N.J., for a mixed-use development with up to 1,200 multifamily units.
The site at 615 River Road was formerly owned by the Hess Oil and used as an oil tank farm dating back to the 1960s. It is one of the last large undeveloped sites along the Hudson River in an area known as New Jersey’s Gold Coast. Formerly a mostly industrial area, River Road in Edgewater has become home to multiple residential and commercial developments.
The joint venture plans to develop three 25-story towers with one- to three-bedroom apartments, including 180 to 240 affordable units. The 1.2 million-square-foot project, designed by FXCollaborative of New York, will include 20,000 square feet of commercial space and a wide range of amenities including a 2.5-acre waterfront park. The development will also feature a new direct water ferry station connecting to Midtown and Downtown Manhattan and a New Jersey Transit bus stop, which will also provide direct service to New York City.
The developers settled a lawsuit last year with the Borough of Edgewater and agreed to transfer a portion of the property valued at approximately $12 million to the borough for use as a future public school and open recreational space.
Bruce Sturman, a managing director of Manhattan-based Maxal Group, said in a prepared statement Northwind had a clear vision on how to finance a large-scale project like 615 River Road. He said they look forward to continuing to work with the Northwind team as they begin development at 615 River Road and future high-end developments along the Hudson River.
Loan Details
Northwind, a Manhattan-based real estate private equity firm, provided the $50 million first mortgage pre-development loan through its real estate debt funds. The firm provided the loan closing with flexible terms, which will provide the borrower with additional time and capital to prepare the site for development in 2023.
Ran Eliasaf, founder and managing partner of Northwind Group, said in prepared remarks the team’s familiarity with the rapidly growing Edgewater market enabled it to underwrite and execute the financing quickly and efficiently. He said Northwind is actively lending to quality borrowers with well-located assets. Within the past month, Northwind originated more than $112 million in new loans and is equipped to continue to provide flexible financing solutions from its three discretionary debt funds under management, which have deployed more than $1 billion in loans combined. The real estate private equity firm has $3 billion in assets under management.
Earlier this month, Northwind provided $62 million in financing to a joint venture between SB Development and Hazelton Capital Group to complete NOVA, an 86-unit luxury condo development in Long Island City, N.Y. The joint venture received a first mortgage completion to condo inventory loan from Northwind for its $70 million ground-up, 95,000-square-foot development.
Earlier Waterfront Project
The Maxal Group has been an active developer and real estate investor in New York and New Jersey’s Gold Coast. In December 2019, a partnership of Maxal and Hartz Mountain Industries secured a $100 million loan from M&T Bank for its recently completed waterfront property in Weehawken, N.J., known as Harbor 1500. Located within Hartz Mountain’s Lincoln Harbor mixed-use development, the luxury rental building has 236 units. Harbor 1500 sits on a pier along the Hudson River and had previously been an office building that was redeveloped by the joint venture. The property is close to the Lincoln Tunnel, which connects New Jersey to Manhattan.
