TODAY’S DEALS: Berkeley Point Capital Closes $49.7M for a Salt Lake Acquisition
Kennedy Wilson completes an acquisition with financing from Berkeley Point Capital; HFF closes $23 million for a Cambridge renovation; and Eastern Consolidated sells sponsor condos near New Jersey’s “Gold Coast” for $15.25 million.
Salt Lake City—A new $49.7 million loan closed by Berkeley Point Capital has allowed Kennedy Wilson to acquire a 450-unit garden-style, Class B+ community in Salt Lake City. The total sales price was $61.8 million, with Kennedy Wilson investing $15 million of equity to balance the transaction. The asset, known as Foothill Place Apartments, was built in 1974 and consists of 10 two- and three-story buildings situated on 18 acres.
“This asset is our second multifamily acquisition in the Salt Lake City area in the last six months, where we purchased Sandpiper Apartments in November of last year,” says Bob Hart, president of KW Multifamily Management Group. “Foothill and Sandpiper are excellent examples of Kennedy Wilson’s value-add repositioning strategy in markets that have stable job growth with high rental demand.”
In addition to arranging the financing, Berkeley Point Capital facilitated the transaction for the seller, which—like Kennedy Wilson—was also a long term client.
HFF secures $23M for Cambridge construction
The WyethCambridge, Mass.—Holliday Fenoglio Fowler has secured $23 million in financing for The Wyeth, a three-building, 63-unit community located in Cambridge. The firm worked on Broder Properties, which bought the three assets out of foreclosure and has plans to renovate two of them to LEED Platinum standards. The properties are located between Porter Square and the Fresh Pond/Alewife neighborhood of Cambridge close to Davis Square at 45 Yerxa Road and 120 and 124 Ridge Avenue.
“Broder intends to hold these properties long term as a core portion of their growing portfolio,” says HFF director Greg LaBine. “Eastern Bank provided Broder with construction funds to complete the renovations while allowing Broder to lock in long-term rates in the current attractive interest rate environment.”
Eastern Consolidated sells sponsor condos near New Jersey’s ‘Gold Coast’ for $15.25M
Union City, N.J.—In a deal that signifies the strength of New Jersey’s multifamily market, a package of 189 remaining sponsor units at the Lenox, an upscale condominium building situated near Hudson County’s “Gold Coast” at 500 Central Avenue in Union City, N.J., has just traded for $15.25 million to Sun Realty and Gibraltar Realty.
Eastern Consolidated Senior Directors Deborah Gutoff and George F. Moss represented the seller 500 Central Avenue SPE LLC, while Senior Director Lipa Lieberman and Director Gabriel Saffioti procured the buyer of the large block of unsold condos.
“This is a very well-positioned property that will only continue to benefit from the current upsurge in the Northern New Jersey residential sales market,” Gutoff says. “Union City and the surrounding areas of Hoboken, Jersey City and Weehawken offer some of the most luxurious Manhattan-style condos at a substantial discount, and this is another indicator of investor demand for luxury-quality, income-producing assets across the river from New York City.”
Currently, 142 of the 189 condos are occupied, while 47 of the units are vacant. The package was comprised of 26 studios, 123 one-bedrooms and 40 two-bedrooms. Under the new ownership, the buyer plans to immediately renovate the 47 vacant units with high quality condominium finishes and execute a top notch marketing campaign to sell the individual units to end users.
As part of the package deal, the purchaser also acquired the building’s four retail condominiums (totaling 3,621 square feet of commercial space) and a 225-unit parking lot. In addition, the buyer received holder status from the original sponsor upon completion of the bulk sale, “allowing maximum flexibility in future rentals and sales,” according to Moss. Over the last 18 months, condo sales at the Lenox have averaged $230 per square foot.
Situated just north of Hoboken in Union City, N.J., the area is up-and-coming and presents a viable alternative for young professionals who may not be able to afford Manhattan or Brooklyn prices but wish to be in close proximity, especially if they work in Downtown or Midtown Manhattan. Only five miles from Midtown via the Lincoln Tunnel, six miles from the New Jersey Turnpike and six miles from the Garden State Parkway, residents at the 16-story Lenox, built in 1963, benefit from a recent $2.4 million renovation to the building’s common areas, and luxury amenities include the new marble lobby, community room, fitness center and beautifully landscaped courtyard.
Attorneys in the transaction were Anthony Romano, Esq. of Connell Foley LLP for the seller and Alexander W. Seligson, Esq. of Seligson Rothman & Rothman for the buyer.
