65 Industrial Street South in Clifton — Courtesy: Tulfra Real Estate
By Joshua Burd
HFF has arranged a $23.35 million refinancing for the developers that recently repositioned a 204,000-square-foot industrial building in Clifton, the firm announced this week.
The brokerage said it worked on behalf of Tulfra Real Estate and The Hampshire Cos. to secure the loan for 65 South Industrial Street South. Members of the firm’s Florham Park office placed the 10-year, fixed-rate loan with Citizens Bank and said the proceeds will be used to refinance the existing construction financing on the property.
The HFF team included Senior Managing Director Jon Mikula and Managing Director Michael Klein.
The announcement comes after the news that Tulfra and Hampshire leased the building, a former GlaxoSmithKline manufacturing facility, to Damascus Bakeries. The tenant will use the building as a second manufacturing facility that will accommodate the company’s growing production needs and its corporate headquarters.
Tulfra and Hampshire invested some $10 million to upgrade the building after acquiring it in 2015. The partners sought to reposition the former plant for single-tenant use through changes such as raising the roof to 27 feet, changing the exterior skin, adding new lighting and sprinklers and installing new power, electrical and mechanical systems.
RELATED: Tulfra, Hampshire ink 204,000 sq. ft. lease at repositioned Clifton building
“Citizens Bank quickly understood the benefits that the property’s extensive highway access, deep labor pool, proximity to New York City and unique building specs would provide the tenant and was able to provide an attractive rate,” Klein said. “Tulfra and Hampshire did a fantastic job redeveloping this asset into a modern manufacturing/distribution facility, and we were happy to help them put a long-term loan in place that caps off this spec redevelopment project.”
Damascus will lease its space for a 15-year term and will also take a 50 percent ownership interest in the borrower entity, HFF said in a news release. The Brooklyn-based, family-owned and -operated business is a large-scale baker of paninis, pitas, roll-ups and wraps that can be found at retailers such as Starbucks, Chick-fil-A, Whole Foods, Kings and Costco.
