Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P. (HFF) arranged $32.5 million in financing for the development of a 163-unit multi-housing property serving the community surrounding New Jersey City University (NJCU).
HFF worked exclusively on behalf of the developer, a joint venture between The Hampshire Companies, Claremont Companies and Circle Squared Alternative Investments to secure the construction loan through M&T Bank.
The project is part of NJCU’s West Campus master plan, better known as University Place.
Situated three blocks from NJCU’s Main Campus, University Place will encompass 22 acres comprising more than 200,000 s/f of retail, 110,000 s/f of education space and a 425-bed student housing community.
This development will be the first phase of University Place’s market-rate unit component, which will total approximately 600 units once it is fully built out.
Due for completion later this year, the project will feature a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom units along with more than 10,000 s/f of ground-floor retail and 177 parking spaces for residential and retail use.
Units will have high ceilings, open layouts, hardwood floors, hard surface countertops, walk-in closets and stainless steel appliances.
The property will offer more than 20,000 s/f of common amenity space, including 5,000 s/f of indoor lounge space and a 15,000 s/f open courtyard located on the third floor, which will overlook the adjacent baseball park.
The HFF debt placement team representing the borrower was led by senior managing director Jon Mikula and managing director Michael Klein.
“University Place is an exciting new development, which is utilizing an area of Jersey City that is prime for not only the University’s expansion west, but for market-rate housing and retail,” Mikula stated. “We were thrilled to be a part of the first phase of this development.”
“M&T Bank did a fantastic job getting their arms around this new market and creating a flexible structure that best met the sponsorship’s needs,” added Klein.
