Burlington Court Apartments, located at 870 East Route 130 North in Burlington City — Courtesy: Gebroe-Hammer Associates
By Joshua Burd
Investors have paid a combined $89 million for nearly 900 garden apartments in southern New Jersey, under three separate transactions announced this week by Gebroe-Hammer Associates.
The residential brokerage firm said the deals include properties in Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties. Most recently, Gebroe-Hammer represented the seller and obtained the buyer in the $12 million off-market sale of Burlington Court Apartments, a 201-unit property at 870 East Route 130 North in Burlington City.
The complex features a mix of one- and two-bedroom units less than 21 miles from Center City, Philadelphia, and 15 miles from Trenton.
“In general, no new competitive stock has been introduced in South Jersey during the past 18 to 24 months, nor is any on the books for 2018 or 2019,” said Eli Herskowitz, sales associate and the firm’s South Jersey market specialist. “This, coupled with the trend of growing employment throughout the Philadelphia metro, has prompted many of the region’s apartment owners — who recognize the window to garner the highest competitive sale price may be closing — to sell.”
Herskowitz and Gebroe-Hammer Managing Director Joseph Brecher represented the seller and procured the buyer in the Burlington City deal. They noted that the property was built in 1971 and renovated in 1995, sitting along the Route 130 corridor and offering quick access to Interstate 295, other major highways and nearby train stations.
“Due to Burlington Court’s strategic location, historically stabilized occupancy rates and well-maintained grounds and buildings, we were able to identify the buyer in less than one day,” Herskowitz said. “The buyer plans to reposition the property through capital improvements in order to bring it up to market rates.”
Within the Camden West submarket, Brecher and Herskowitz also arranged the $12.25 million sale of a 216-unit property at an undisclosed location. Located 17 miles southeast of Philadelphia, the complex is a garden-style rental community with amenities such as a pool and sundeck.
The largest among the firm’s recent South Jersey deals was the $64.6 million sale of 443 units in Gloucester County, although it did not disclose additional details about the transaction.
Brecher noted South Jersey investors have the same criteria as those in central and northern New Jersey. According to REIS, current average asking rents are $1,045, $1,058 and $1,064 for the Gloucester, Burlington and Camden West submarkets, respectively.
“Over the course of 2018, rents are expected to inch upward, which bodes well for investors seeking multifamily investment opportunities,” Brecher said.
“Investors want the same things regardless of their New Jersey geographic target market: proximity and transit-link accessibility to a major metro, a tenant-base pipeline of college-educated millennials and empty-nesters and nearby lifestyle conveniences.”
