Hunters Glen, located at 1109 Hunters Glen Drive in Plainsboro — Courtesy: HFF
By Joshua Burd
Another apartment community has hit the market in Plainsboro, an affluent suburb where investors have shown an appetite for value-add opportunities at garden-style properties.
The owner of Hunters Glen, located about 10 minutes from Route 1, has hired HFF to sell the 896-unit complex at 1109 Hunters Glen Drive. The brokerage firm said the property is 96 percent leased but noted that fewer than 3 percent of the units have been fully renovated, “leaving significant remaining upside for new investors.”
The community is made up of 61 two-story buildings and was built in 1976, HFF said, touting high occupancy rates and large rental growth due to a tenant base that draws from the many technology, pharmaceutical and Fortune 500 firms nearby. The property is minutes from a well-performing office submarket that is home to the likes of BlackRock, Novo Nordisk and Sandoz.
“Hunters Glen is a historically strong performing garden apartment complex in the greatly sought after submarket of Plainsboro,” HFF wrote in an offering memorandum. “The ideal renter pool in combination with extreme dearth of new supply has created a uniquely resilient rental market.”
The offering follows at least two recent sales in Plainsboro. This summer, a joint venture of Kushner Real Estate Group and Goldman Sachs Asset Management Private Real Estate paid more than $73 million to acquire The Addison at Princeton Meadows, a 439-unit garden community.
RELATED: KRE, Goldman acquire 439-unit Plainsboro community for $73.3 million
Meantime, Kushner Cos. reportedly has agreed to buy the 1,032-unit Quail Ridge property in the township for around $190 million. All three properties — Hunters Glen, Quail Ridge and The Addison — are located in the same section of Plainsboro.
Hunters Glen has a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments, with amenities including three outdoor swimming pools, an on-site leasing office and five laundry rooms, HFF said. It sits immediately adjacent to George Davidson Park — which has baseball and soccer fields, basketball and volleyball courts and a playground — as well as Princeton Meadows Golf Course.
HFF also noted that Plainsboro has not seen significant new multifamily development since 1985. The firm added that the current owner of Hunters Glen recently modernized kitchens and bathrooms in some units and “have successfully achieved significant rental premiums.”
The average household income within a three-mile radius is $139,912, about 61 percent higher than the national average, HFF wrote.
RELATED: HFF marketing more than 1,000 units at 52-acre Plainsboro community
“Hunters Glen is a prime opportunity to implement a renovation program with current rents at the bottom end of the market, allowing for upside with a strong return-on-cost,” the firm said.
The HFF marketing team is being led by Jose Cruz, Michael Oliver, Kevin O’Hearn, Andrew Scandalios, Mark Mahasky and Stephen Simonelli, with Greg Nalbandian overseeing the financing effort.
