Ridgewood Commons at 10 North Ridgewood Road in South Orange — Courtesy: Gebroe-Hammer Associates
By Joshua Burd
A private investor has acquired a 66-unit apartment building in downtown South Orange and steps from NJ Transit rail service, in the fourth trade of the property since 1999.
According to Gebroe-Hammer Associates, which brokered the sale, the complex at 10 North Ridgewood Road changed hands for an undisclosed price after seeing more than a dozen would-be buyers aggressively bidding on the deal. Executive Vice President David Jarvis represented the seller, 10 North Ridgewood Road LLC, touting the five-story building’s location, distinctive design and recently renovated apartments and common areas.
The seller had owned the property since 2007.
“Ridgewood Commons is a highly regarded icon known for its classic architecture and unique interior design touches that make it distinctive for its era and, of course, today,” said Jarvis who first sold the 1940-built property for the original developer in 1999 and three times thereafter.
“South Orange’s Village Center is one of the most high-demand, pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods in the state,” he added. “Thanks to a highly strategic location at the intersection of two major county thoroughfares of Scotland Road and South Orange Avenue — as well as the Valley Street extension — this business district and its eclectic collection of shops and iconic storefronts is the hub for happenings in the entire region.”
Home to a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units, Ridgewood Commons has features such as tiered steps between rooms in select units, arched entryways, an Art Deco lobby and a canopied lobby entry, according to a news release. All apartments have newly renovated kitchens and bathrooms, while the property has updated common areas, a new roof, new windows and other exterior enhancements.
The property has drawn upwardly mobile career starters, established millennials, college students and faculty members and highly educated empty-nesters, Gebroe-Hammer said, thanks in part to South Orange’s bustling central business district and two train stations. The building is also 16 miles from Manhattan and at the crossroads of a vast highway and bus service network.
“Southwest Essex County is one of the most affluent suburban residential (and) commercial corridors in the state that ranks in the top 15 percent nationally,” Jarvis said. “It has an extremely diverse tenant cohort that is a melting pot of artists, designers and people working in the media, (along with) professionals, managers, sales and office workers and business and finance professionals. Rounding out this mix are undergraduate and graduate students and faculty at Seton Hall University.”