HFF brokers hit the ground running at JLL in New Jersey, SALT cap hurts Lower Hudson Valley housing market & more Tri-State real estate news

JLL brokers bevy of New Jersey building trades
A team of brokers from HFF, having just seen their firm close on its $2 billion merger with JLL, have hit the ground running at their new digs. A JLL capital markets team led by senior managing director Jose Cruz and directors Marc Duval and Jordan Avanzato, all of whom just joined the brokerage from HFF, recently handled the sale of a vacant office building with a three-story atrium in South Plainfield, New Jersey, to Piscataway-based developer Edgewood Properties. JLL marketed the 104,020-square-foot building at 1001 Durham Avenue, which was once the U.S. headquarters of luggage manufacturer TUMI, on behalf of ConnectOne Bancorp, according to RE-NJ. “This is a great location with access to highways and a significant labor pool,” Cruz said in a statement. “The asset has significant upside both in its current use, as well as potential redevelopment.” JLL didn’t say how much the five-acre site sold for, although property records show it last traded for nearly $10 million in 2005. Cruz and JLL also closed this week on the sale of a four-property industrial portfolio at 19 Chapin Road in Montville Township, while also advising RXR Realty and the Blackstone Group on their sale of a two-building office complex in Princeton to New York-based Argent Ventures, according to RE-NJ. [RE-NJ]

SALT cap hurting Lower Hudson Valley housing market
The new tax bill that puts a cap of $10,000 on the federal deduction for state and local taxes is hurting the housing market in the Lower Hudson Valley, LoHud reported. The area saw a “slight decrease in activity and sales for the first time in quite a while” and a “larger level of decrease in the very high-end market” in the second quarter of 2019, Ron Garafalo, president of the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors, told the outlet. Single-family home sales in Westchester County fell by 3.9 percent year-over-year, to 1,500. As a matter of comparison, sales stood at 1,643 during the second quarter of 2016, which was the best second quarter in recent years, per LoHud. Rockland County, meanwhile, had 459 single-family home sales during the last three months — a 2.3 percent decline from the same time period last year. Joseph Rand, chief creative officer and managing partner with Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty, told the outlet he was “convinced that the [state and local tax] cap really had a much bigger impact on this housing market than I expected.” [LoHud]

Unidentified buyer pays $20M for pair of NJ buildings
An unidentified buyer bought two buildings in Hamilton, New Jersey, from an unidentified seller for $19.5 million, NJBIZ reported. The buildings at 5 and 8 Commerce Way span a total of 120,000 square feet and sit on more than 12 acres of land near Princeton, not far from Interstate 295 and the New Jersey Turnpike. Both of the properties are “modern, functional and flexible, and situated in a prime distribution/logistics area,” the outlet reported. A team from Colliers International’s New Jersey office led by executive managing director Jacklene Chesler, managing director Matthew Brown and senior financial analyst Frank Summers represented both parties involved in the transaction. The buildings themselves are suitable for industrial and office use. NJBIZ also reported this week that a Chesler-led Colliers team arranged the $11.5 million sale of Washington Plaza, a nearly 200,000-square-foot office building at 1551 South Washington Avenue in Piscataway. Neither the buyer nor the seller on that deal were disclosed. Property records show the building last traded for $9.5 million in 2013. [NJBIZ]

Milvado snags 2 Long Island office buildings for $19M
Syosset, New York-based Milvado Property Group dropped $18.7 million for a pair of office buildings in its hometown, Long Island Business News reported. The two buildings at 6801 and 6901 Jericho Turnpike comprise a total of 224,309 square feet and are around 67 percent leased. Milvado, which already owns 38 industrial and office buildings across Long Island, bought the properties from the Rosmarin family, according to the outlet. “These are two superior properties that belong in our portfolio,” said a statement from David Hercman, Milvado’s director of asset management. “From a far broader strategic standpoint, this investment reflects a significant economic commitment to the region based on our belief that Long Island has a strong and vibrant future.” A Cushman & Wakefield team brokered the deal. [LIBN]

Investors pay $13M for Kohl’s building in Fairfield
The Kohl’s building in Fairfield, Connecticut, has new owners, the Stamford Advocate reported. A group of local investors bought the building at 290 Tunxis Hill Road through an entity called Tunxis Hill LLC for $12.5 million. The purchase also included the Russell Speeder Car Wash at 620 Villa Avenue and a 1.07-acre parking lot on Greenfield Street, according to the outlet. “Property in Fairfield, Connecticut, is extremely hard to locate, and [the new owners] believe this location is an ideal center for continued growth in the retail sector,” said Bruce Wettenstein, a partner with Westport-based Vidal/Wettenstein, which brokered the deal on behalf of the property’s former owner. Wettenstein told the outlet that all of the existing tenants will stay where they are. [Stamford Advocate]

Long Island sees spike in housing inventory, prices
Inventory on Long Island rose sharply in the second quarter, but that didn’t stop prices from rising as well, according to a quarterly sales report for the region prepared by Douglas Elliman and appraisal firm Miller Samuel. Listing inventory in Nassau and Suffolk counties rose by 21.7 percent year-over-year, to 14,051, according to the report, marking the largest year-over-year increase in inventory in more than a dozen years. The average sales price was up 3.7 percent year-over-year, to $518,119, and the median sales price jumped 4.7 percent year-over-year, to $445,000. That means the median sales price for homes on Long Island haven’t fallen year-over year for 25 quarters in a row, per the report. Long Island had a total of 6,889 sales in the second quarter — a 1.9 percent increase from the same time last year — and homes spent an average of 73 days on the market, down from 75 days a year ago. [Douglas Elliman]

Namdar nabs NJ shopping center at 50% discount
Great Neck, New York-based Namdar Realty Group, which has been busy in recent months scooping up distressed retail assets around the country, has acquired the Hamilton Mall outside Atlantic City, New Jersey, for $25 million, according to NJ.com. The outlet noted the purchase price for the 1 million-square-foot shopping center, which recently lost two of its three anchor stores, is about half of its $50 million assessed property value, a number it secured earlier this year after appealing a previous $90.78 million valuation. In July, Namdar sued over a $42.8 million assessment on the Enfield Square mall in Connecticut, which it bought in January for $11.4 million. Other malls in the markets around New York have also recently traded hands. JLL brokered the $30.05 million sale this month of a super-regional mall in Amherst, New York, to Washington, D.C.-based Douglas Development Corp. RE-NJ reported that the Boulevard Mall, near Buffalo, sits in a federally designated Opportunity Zone, enhancing its value. Local news reports noted that the mall itself sold for $24.05 million, with the extra $6 million being for a nearby Wegmans store. [NJ.com] — Brian Baxter

Ex-Rockland transport chief’s HQ hits market at $12M
Nearly eight months after being sentenced to more than four years in prison on corruption charges, the Rockland County headquarters of Richard Brega’s former transportation empire is up for sale at $11.9 million, LoHud reported. Paul Radler, chief strategy officer for New City-based Rand Commercial, is marketing the 16.9-acre Brega Transportation compound at 500 Corporate Court in Valley Cottage, New York. The 45,840-square-foot complex includes 16,000 square feet of office space, as well as heated driveway to ward off icy conditions. The facility, which housed Brega’s bus and maintenance operations, is located in a region where many transportation companies store large fleets of vehicles. “This is one stop, all in-house. You can fuel, wash the vehicle, maintain the vehicle with a body shop and parts shop,” Adler told LoHud, noting that the site is a driver of local jobs and can be leased by more than one tenant. “I don’t think it will be idle,” he added. [LoHud] — Brian Baxter