By Joshua Burd
An apartment owner has sold a 17-building, 542-unit portfolio in Union County for nearly $83 million, under a deal arranged by Gebroe-Hammer Associates.
The brokerage firm, which was unable to disclose the locations of the properties, represented a longtime client in a transaction that involved multiple buyers. It described the portfolio — which also includes one office and four storefronts — as a collection of low- to midrise buildings with common features such as on-site parking and laundry facilities, front-door NJ Transit bus service and nearby commuter rail.
Gebroe-Hammer Executive Vice President Stephen Tragash brokered the $82.72 million sale, noting that the buildings were constructed from the 1940s through 2008.
“Collectively and individually, the properties possess inherent repositioning potential associated with their neighborhood presence, close proximity to an array of immediate-vicinity lifestyle services and Union County’s multitude of mass transit options, which offer connectivity to Midtown Manhattan 18 miles away and North and Central Jersey employment centers,” Tragash said. “All of these characteristics combined, along with the portfolio buildings’ positioning within one of the nation’s highest-population-density corridors, are what attracted each of the buyers.”
Tragash has been marketing the portfolio exclusively since early March, touting its access to an extensive highway network including the New Jersey Turnpike, the Garden State Parkway and Interstate 78, among others. Gebroe-Hammer also cited its proximity to New York City and the presence of employers such as Merck & Co., New England Motor Freight, USI Services Group and Overlook Medical Center.
“Union County has a growing-tenant submarket where many of its municipalities offer a suburban city-center lifestyle that appeals to today’s young and established professionals as well as upper-income empty nesters — a cohort that has grown exponentially during the COVID-19 era,” Tragash said.
