LeFrak sells Newport office tower to iStar Financial

The company that built the first new neighborhood on Jersey City’s industrial Lackawanna waterfront is selling a tower there for $160 million.

LeFrak is selling 570 Washington Boulevard, a 380,000 s/f office property in the Newport development to iStar Financial, TRD first reported last week.

The multinational securities company Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation occupies the entire office portion of the building as its headquarters, subleasing the space from J.P. Morgan Chase, which relocated to LeFrak’s 545 Washington Blvd. in 2015.

Ground floor retail is occupied by two restaurants and a coffee shop with one space currently vacant.

The office tower is located on the site of formerly abandoned railyards bought by Samuel LeFrak in 1985 for $50 million and developed as a six-acre community that is now home to 15,000 residents in 18 apartment buildings, two hotels and a mall. LeFrak owns eight office buildings, 17 apartment buildings and a gas station within the community.

The CO reported that Bank of America funded a $63.5 million loan to iStar for the purchase. iStar paid $96.4 million for the building and $68.4 million for the fee simple interest of the underlying land, signing a 98-year ground lease as part of the deal.

There has been no official comment from any of the parties involved in the sale