New Jersey Multifamily Community Changes Hands for $122M
The new owners plan to turn the rental community into condominiums.
Ocean Gate, a 170-unit Class-A apartment community located in Long Branch, N.J., has been acquired by Lincoln Equities Group. Walker & Dunlop Inc. arranged $121.5 million in equity and debt financing for the acquisition of the property, located at 85 Cooper Ave.
Aaron Appel, Jonathan Schwartz, Keith Kurland, Mo Beler, Adam Schwartz, Ari Hirt, Jackson Irwin, and Stanley Cayre of Walker & Dunlop acted as advisors to Lincoln Equities Group. The team secured $46.5 million in joint venture equity from RWN Real Estate Partners and Avenue Realty Capital. Additionally, the team raised $75 million in debt from TPG Real Estate Credit for the acquisition. Cushman & Wakefield’s team of Niko Nicolaou, Ryan Dowd, JP Hohl, and Alexandria Ebers represented the seller, Ocean Cooper Revitalization LLC, as well as the buyer, Lincoln Equities, in the transaction.
Conversion candidate
Since coming online in 2023, Ocean Gate has been running as a rental community, where Real Estate New Jersey reported that asking rents started in the low $3,000s. Moving forward, Joel and Lance Bergstein, Lincoln Equities Group’s executive chairman and CEO respectively, are gearing up to transform the community into for-sale condominium units.
READ ALSO: Tapping Into Potential on the Jersey Shore
Ocean Gate incorporates 170 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. Ocean Cooper Revitalization LLC developed the property, with Monteforte Architectural Studio leading the design. Apartments feature nine-foot ceilings, modern kitchens and custom closets. Across its 11.6 acres, residents have access to a 16,000-square-foot clubhouse, pickleball and volleyball courts and a heated pool.
Long Branch, N.J., is in central New Jersey, approximately 56 miles from New York City. Located near the coast, Ocean Gate has access to many retail and dining options in Pier Village. The Newark International Airport is 45 miles away and the Long Branch Train Station is just over a mile from the community.
Northern New Jersey luxury apartments activity
According to the latest National Multifamily report from Yardi Matrix, New Jersey was ranked tenth out of 140 multifamily markets for year-over-year rent growth, clocking in at 2.4 percent. Nearby in the Northern New Jersey submarket, luxury apartment communities have continued to come online throughout 2025.
Earlier this month, a joint venture between RXR and Columbia acquired Hudson House, an 829-unit luxury multifamily community in Jersey City. The joint venture will be developing the project through its next two phases. Phase two features a 26-story high-rise that will feature 338 units and phase three will be an 140-unit adaptive-reuse project of a six-story warehouse.
Earlier this week, Rockpoint opened The Declan, a 298-unit luxury community in Weehawken, N.J., along the Hudson River. It is one of three developments that Rockpoint has planned for the Port Imperial area.
