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JOURNAL SQUARE DEVELOPER INKS
$200 MILLION FINANCING PACKAGE
Lions Group has secured some $200
million in financing and capital
commitments for a planned 34-story,
360-unit apartment tower in Jersey
City’s booming Journal Square
section.
According to JLL’s capital markets
group, which advised on the
transactions, Goldman Sachs
Alternatives provided the solution in
connection with the mixed-income
Homestead Gateway project at
701 Newark Ave. That includes a
construction loan, a bridge facility,
Low-Income Housing Tax Credit
equity and a purchase of tax credits
under New Jersey’s Aspire program,
as well as a forward Freddie Mac
commitment arranged by JLL Real
Estate Capital LLC.
The JLL team included Nicco Lupo,
Christopher Peck, Michael Shmuely,
Jillian Grzywacz, Alex Staikos,
Jimmy Cochran and Tom Didio Jr.
They noted that the development
will allocate one-third of its site
to publicly accessible open space,
creating a pedestrian gateway that
connects residents and visitors
directly to Homestead Place Plaza,
improves access to the Journal
Square PATH Station and supports
the Journal Square 2060 Plan’s vision
for enhanced walkability and transit-
oriented development.
The structured capitalization paves
the way for Lions Group to transform
a former municipal parking lot into a
building that will include 90 units for
low- and moderate-income renters —
Journal Square’s first new affordable
housing in years — alongside 270
market-rate rentals.
“It is extremely rare to see a new
development bring so much to the
table in terms of affordable housing,
union jobs and community benefits,”
said Aaron Shirian, a principal at Lions
Group. “The City of Jersey City has
proven itself to be a national leader
in strategic housing development,
not only by attracting investment in
the multitude of projects we have
seen over the last decade, but also
by ensuring that those investments
go toward thoughtfully planned
projects that will provide benefits to
the entire community. We are also
very thankful to the State of New
Jersey, particularly the New Jersey
Housing (and) Mortgage Finance
Agency and the New Jersey Economic
Development Authority, who put in
many years of hard work to make this
project a reality. We are honored to be
a part of it, and we hope to see many
more projects like this in the future.”
A team led by Steven Mlenak of
Greenbaum Rowe Smith & Davis
LLP represented Lions Group, which
is based in Great Neck, New York,
in securing the nearly $90 million
Aspire tax credit award from the
EDA this summer. Last week, JLL
announced its role in obtaining what
it described as a full-stack structured
capitalization for the project, which
broke ground in early December.
Rendering courtesy: Lions Group via JLL
Lions Group’s proposed 34-story, 360-unit apartment tower at 701 Newark Ave. in Jersey
City will include 90 units for low- and moderate-income renters and a signifi cant open
space and pedestrian component.