Palmyra Arms at 50 West Broad St. in Palmyra — Courtesy: Gebroe-Hammer Associates
By Joshua Burd
Multifamily investment sales in Monmouth and Burlington counties are on the rise, fueled by the growth of rental communities around highways such as interstates 195 and 295.
That’s according to Gebroe-Hammer Associates, which is touting the recent completion of five deals across the two counties. In a news release, the brokerage firm highlighted the sale of 668 units in the region since the start of the year, accounting for nearly $115 million in transaction value.
The activity includes the sale of Palmyra Arms, a 66-unit property at 50 West Broad St. in Palmyra, and of the 42-unit Holly House Apartments at 100 Drury Lane in Asbury Park. Gebroe-Hammer Sales Representative Eli Herskowitz and Executive Managing Director Joseph Brecher brokered the Palmyra deal, while Senior Vice President Adam Zweibel sold the Asbury Park property.
The firm represented the separate sellers and procured the respective buyers in the trades, which totaled $11.8 million.
“Apartment rentals in this out-commuter region have tenants competing for available units in a manner once associated with single-family home-buying,” Herskowitz said. “More and more renters are getting prequalified so they can move quickly once a unit becomes available and sign off on a one-year or more lease term, which has become the norm.”
Herskowitz and Zweibel pointed to their growing pipeline of assignments from property owners and investors in the two-county region, which the firm says is gaining new attention from outbound city-dwellers. According to Zweibel, the I-195 and I-295 corridor and its surrounding state, county and local roadway network have been a catalyst for new commercial development in recent years, setting the stage for an influx of renters.
“While this has long been an important regional corridor, which connects via (County Road 537) in North Hanover Township in Burlington County and Upper Freehold in Township in Monmouth County, commercial development has become a focal point thanks to extremely heavy highway volume traveling to and from major employment centers — from Philadelphia and Trenton-Hamilton-Ewing to Monmouth and Middlesex counties,” Zweibel said. That growth has helped fuel deals for the broker, such as the $6.2 million sale of 46 units in July and the trade of more than 290 garden apartments in September, both in Monmouth County.
In Burlington County, Herskowitz also was part of the Gebroe-Hammer team arranging the sale of an undisclosed garden community spanning more than 200 units. His recent deals also include the sale of more than 500 units in Camden County and more than 300 units in Mercer County, along with the $4.3 million trade of 46 units at 198 White Horse Pike in Collingswood.
