7 Chestnut St. in East Orange — Courtesy: Gebroe-Hammer Associates
By Joshua Burd
Brokers with Gebroe-Hammer Associates have made the most of their home field advantage in recent months, closing 15 different multifamily sales in Essex County in the past 90 days.
The Livingston-based firm said deals in East Orange, Newark and Bloomfield represented the highest concentration of its recent activity. Overall, the brokerage has closed 24 deals involving 1,147 units and more than $148 in transaction value.
The firm touts rising asking rents, which have hit a 17-quarter streak of gains in North Jersey.
“As the economy heats up, rents and occupancy rates — particularly as they relate to Class B apartment assets — are becoming even stronger,” Ken Uranowitz, Gebroe-Hammer’s president, said in a prepared statement. “Thanks to the metro’s proximity to major employment centers, ease of major highway/mass transit access and lower rents as compared to New York City and its outer-borough of Brooklyn, tenants and investors are in hot pursuit of North Jersey’s 223,000-plus total units.”
Gebroe-Hammer’s East Orange’s transactions alone totaled 692 units, according to a news release, including 285 units spanning several buildings on South Harrison Street. They also include 199 units at 7 Chestnut St. and 23, 33 and 56 South Munn Ave.
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The firm’s other recent Orange transactions include:
- 28 units at 560 Central Ave. and 115 Evergreen Pl.;
- 46 units at 115 Halsted St.;
- 51 units at 147 Halsted St.;
- 66 units at 157 Halsted St.;
- 17 units at 116 Lenox Ave.
Each of the sales involved exclusive representation of the seller by David Oropeza, managing director, the firm’s 30-year East Orange market specialist, who collaborated on the South Harrison Street portfolio sale with Managing Director Joseph Brecher, who secured the buyer.
In nearby Newark, Gebroe-Hammer’s sales efforts were spearheaded by Executive Vice President David Jarvis, the news release. The firm exclusively represented the sellers and identified the buyers of several other properties in the city, including:
- 64 units at 784 Clinton Ave.;
- 50 units at 328 and 336 Roseville Ave.;
- 23 units at 104 Montclair Ave.
In Bloomfield, Gebroe-Hammer’s brokerage team of Uranowitz, Nicolaou and Sales Representative Adam Zweibel also arranged the $3.05 million sale of 22 units at 42 Park Ave., just off Bloomfield Avenue and less than 0.3 miles from Glen Ridge Rail Station.
Nicolaou, meantime, sold seven residential units and one commercial unit at 1211 Bergenline Ave. in Union City and 22 units. In Clifton, Gebroe-Hammer Vice President Debbie Pomerantz exclusively represented the seller and procured the buyer in the $2 million sale of186 and 230 Ackerman Ave. in Clifton, while also working on the sale of the Lenox Avenue East Orange property and the sale of 36-unit building at 89 4th St. in Passaic.
“Across North Jersey, existing Class-B assets are benefiting from the consequential effects of the latest wave of construction activity, rendering these vintage pre- and post-war, inventory-dominating properties in highest demand among investors,” Uranowitz said. “In many instances, before the ink has even had a chance to dry on the closing statement, new owners are moving swiftly to implement value-add capital improvements to upgrade units and bring them up to market-rate rents.
“Based on historical asking and effective rent benchmarks and projections, these new owners will see a significant return on investment and added value during the next two years and beyond.”
