Tri-state deal roundup: RXR, Veris, CBRE, Lidl make waves

Big Jersey City development sites sell, and multifamily refis abound

5000 Corporate Court in Holtsville, NY (JLL, iStock)
5000 Corporate Court in Holtsville, NY (JLL, iStock)

Sales, refinancings and store openings across the tri-state area have been keeping brokers and investors busy this spring. Here is a sampling of recent ones in New Jersey, Long Island and the northern suburbs.

Veris Residential sold the development sites for its Jersey City waterfront projects Urby II and Urby III for $70 million, according to an SEC filing. The transaction closed in April, but the buyer was not disclosed.

Veris, previously known as Mack-Cali, had been working on the project for years. Jersey Digs reported that plans were submitted for the long-delayed developments, which call for two 69-story towers with a combined 1,606 residences. The first of three proposed towers wrapped up construction in 2016.

On Long Island, Farmingdale-based Terwilliger & Bartone Properties recently received approval for tax benefits from the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency for the second phase of a project at 425 Railroad Avenue in Westbury. The 46,000-square-foot project includes 59 apartments, eight of which will be affordable.

A warehouse at the construction site will soon be demolished to make way for the development, which will include 20 studios, 26 one-bedrooms and five two-bedrooms. Terwilliger & Bartone landed tax benefits for the first phase of the project in November.

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Elsewhere on Long Island, Lidl continues to pepper the peninsula with stores. The discount grocer is set to open a supermarket at 2475 Jericho Turnpike in Garden City Park next week, Newsday reported. It will be the 22nd Lidl on Long Island and will fill a cavity left by Waldbaum’s, which had a supermarket there for four decades before declaring bankruptcy in 2015.

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In New Rochelle, Scott Rechler’s RXR scored a $105 million debt package to refinance a mixed-use tower, 360 Huguenot, the Commercial Observer reported. Rialto Capital Management provided the loan for the 280-unit building, which was completed in 2019.

The 28-story development includes a fitness center, an indoor/outdoor lounge and 13,000 square feet of retail. Twenty-eight of the units in the building are designated as affordable. A JLL Capital Markets team negotiated the debt.

Elsewhere on the refi beat, Art Johnson landed $160 million last month for a residential complex being developed at 400 Claremont Avenue in Jersey City. Progress Capital arranged the refinancing, which was provided by Apollo Global Management, according to the Commercial Observer.

The deal refinanced $120 million in construction debt provided by Emanuel Stern’s Tall Pines Capital in 2020. The 629-unit development has been leasing hundreds of units a month, according to Progress Capital, and includes 77,000 square feet of amenity space.

Also last month, CBRE sold a 264,000-square-foot office building in Holtsville, Long Island, for $28.5 million, according to Real Estate Weekly. Northpath Investments was the buyer of 5000 Corporate Court, helped by $22.4 million in acquisition financing from Shem Creek Capital and arranged by JLL Capital Markets.

The office building was constructed in 2000 and is 90 percent leased. Four of the tenants at the two-story building are General Service Administration entities.