6-8 Gates Ave. in Montclair — Courtesy: iBorrow
By Joshua Burd
A national private direct lender has closed nearly $8 million in financing for projects that will reposition vacant buildings in Montclair and Clifton.
In the larger deal, Los Angeles-based iBorrow provided $4 million to the buyer of the Montclair property, a real estate investment and development firm. The borrower plans to renovate and convert the 19,952-square-foot former self-storage facility at 6-8 Gates Ave., creating new office and ground-floor retail space.
iBorrow CEO Brian Good said the renovation will cost around $2.2 million.
“The asset is well-located in a high-growth submarket with strong occupancy, and is poised to benefit from compressing vacancies in the state due in part to economic incentives and dwindling Class B office supply,” Good said. “This was an attractive opportunity in which we were able to rise to the challenge of providing a flexible financing solution to the borrower that will allow them to quickly execute the business plan.”
In Clifton, the lender provided $3.9 million for a client to acquire and repurpose a 28,178-square-foot industrial property. The structure at 550 Lexington Ave. is slated to become a self-storage facility after a planned $1.5 million investment by a New Jersey-based storage solution company.
Plans call for 397 units with a total of 26,590 rentable square feet.
“This property’s location in Northern New Jersey near several major thoroughfares makes it very well positioned to serve the greater New York metropolitan area, which is one of the country’s top markets for self-storage demand,” Good said. “The borrower strategically identified the opportunity to respond to this growing demand by delivering a state-of-the art, climate-controlled facility. We were able to provide a loan needed to support this project with the flexibility and speed that the borrower required.”
Good also noted that population growth in northern New Jersey is a key driver of both deals.
“These two projects reflect strong fundamentals of the New Jersey market that support the demand for upgraded properties spanning a range of sectors,” he said. “Both of the assets will allow the borrowers to serve the needs of their respective submarkets through strategic conversions into new product types with sound and actionable business plans.”
