KRE Group, Oxford Realty Buy Deer Creek for $45M
The partnership has teamed up again to purchase a 288-unit apartment community that fits with their strategy of scooping up properties with value-add potential.
Bridgewater, N.J.—The KRE Group and Oxford Realty Group have teamed up again, this time to acquire the 288-unit Deer Creek apartment community in Plainsboro. They jointly acquired the property with Verde Capital for $45 million.
Deer Creek Apartments, Plainsboro, N.J.
KRE and Oxford Realty first partnered up last November when they purchased the 550-unit Royal Gardens, a rental community in Piscataway for $107.3 million, in partnership with Blue Vista Capital Management. But while this marks the partnership’s second acquisition in the last several months, the companies have had a longstanding business relationship, acquiring and jointly owning multifamily properties in the past.
These recent purchases reflect the partnership’s continued focus on acquiring properties with value-add potential. “We plan on executing a strategy similar to the one we’ve implement at Royal Gardens, investing in capital improvements to enhance tenant quality of life and increase the value of the property,” said Darin Raiken, director of acquisitions at KRE.
Deer Creek currently offers one- and two-bedroom units on a 34-acre campus of apartment buildings. Amenities include an outdoor pool, two tennis courts and a nearby scenic nature trail that leads to a park. KRE plans to add a new fitness center to the community, which is located about four miles from Route 1 and five miles from the New Jersey Turnpike.
Other renovations the partnership has planned for Deer Creek include luxury finishes such as granite countertops, stainless steel appliances and in-unit washers and dryers. The companies will also reconfigure unit layouts to create more open floor plans.
“The Deer Creek and Royal Gardens deals are both part of an ongoing initiative to actively grow our portfolio of multifamily properties through value-add acquisitions,” said Jonathan Kushner, president of KRE. “We are big believers in the future of the New Jersey rental market, as well as the growth potential reinventing select properties offers. We will continue to look for similar opportunities that allow us to deploy capital wisely…”
In addition to pursuing value-add projects, KRE is also an active multifamily developer in New Jersey. Its communities include Grove Pointe, 225 Grand and 18 Park in Jersey City, and it’s currently developing Journal Squared, encompassing three residential towers in the city’s Journal Square neighborhood. The project will include a total 1,838 residences and 36,000 square feet of commercial space.
Other projects KRE has in the works include a 100-acre mixed use community in Bethlehem Township, Pa., called Madison Farms, which is expected to deliver 837 luxury residences and 140,000 square feet of retail space, and Hudson Lights, a 1 million-square-foot mixed-use project in Fort Lee, N.J.
