General Kearny Apartments at 410-109 Belgrove Drive in Kearny
By Joshua Burd
A longtime apartment owner in Kearny has reaped more than $36 million from its recent sale of a seven-building, 171-unit complex in the town, according to Gebroe-Hammer Associates.
The brokerage team, which represented the seller, said the transaction at 410-109 Belgrove Drive comes amid ongoing development and investment in the surrounding neighborhood, adding to the appeal of what’s known as the General Kearny Apartments. Built in 1939, the property is also directly adjacent to a school, a short walk from two retail centers and accessible by both mass transit and highways.
Gebroe-Hammer Executive Managing Director David Oropeza and Executive Vice President Niko Nicolaou represented J & D General Kearny Associates LLC in the $36.32 million sale.
“General Kearny Apartments presented new ownership with a rare acquisition opportunity within this quadrant of north Hudson County,” Nicolaou said. “In just the past few years, Kearny has been the focus of sweeping revitalization and redevelopment initiatives undertaken by public officials and private investors to revive underused land parcels — which bodes particularly well for existing properties like General Kearny Apartments. These initiatives have been successfully mobilized by a wave of development anchored by a wide range of residential, mixed-use and modern industrial redevelopment.”
Gebroe-Hammer noted that the collection of one-, two- and three-bedroom homes sits in a neighborhood with historically high occupancy. Investors have renewed interest in Kearny’s existing apartment stock due in large part to its favorable performance in the COVID-19 economy, Nicolaou said, citing its immediate mass-transit connectivity to Newark and Jersey City and proximity to the Harrison PATH Station.
“Kearny’s far-reaching redevelopment initiatives, hybrid city (and) suburban lifestyle and a surging mid-20s-to-30s tenant cohort priced out of the Hudson waterfront are laying down roots in Hudson Pointe and Kearny’s other distinct-in-character neighborhoods,” said Oropeza, the firm’s urban market specialist. “General Kearny Apartments really is very close to what today’s renter-by-choice is looking for, from connectivity to Manhattan and ease-of-movement within North Jersey for its cultural, dining, entertainment and employment hubs of Newark and Jersey City.”
Progress Capital Partner Brad Domenico arranged acquisition financing for the buyer, a private investor. In announcing the deal, Gebroe-Hammer touted General Kearny Apartments’ proximity to retail options at Kearny Plaza and Kearny Commons, along with additional local, regional and national operators along the Kearny Avenue Business District.
The property boasts an NJ Transit bus stop, with service to the Port Authority Bus Terminal, and is 2.4 miles from the Harrison PATH station. Also nearby are Interstate 280, Route 21 and other major highways.
“Kearny’s rebirth goes beyond transforming its architectural skyline, it includes leveraging the neighborhood’s history, character and diversity,” Nicolaou said. “The town is now poised for continued expansion over the long term. Apartment rental living options and local amenities are now being — and will continue to be — fed by the surging renter-population pipeline. This unique demographic includes upwardly mobile post-bac grads and established millennial professionals as well as empty-nesters seeking a walkable, connected lifestyle.”
