Hawthorne Towers at 36 Hawthorne Place in Montclair — Courtesy: Gebroe-Hammer Associates
By Joshua Burd
The owner of a well-known, 133-unit apartment building in Montclair has sold the property after more than five decades, in a $38 million deal arranged by Gebroe-Hammer Associates.
The brokerage team, which included Executive Managing Director Joseph Brecher and President Ken Uranowitz, represented Hawthorne Towers LLC in the transaction at 36 Hawthorne Place. Gebroe-Hammer Executive Managing Director David Oropeza procured the buyer, Rockledge Ventures LLC, while Brad Domenico of Progress Capital arranged financing.
In announcing the deal, the firm noted that the seller had owned Hawthorne Towers for 52 years. The now-former owner was also among Uranowitz’s first property-owner contacts when he launched his career with Gebroe-Hammer 47 years ago, while Brecher sold an 80-unit property in Somerset on behalf of the same client 10 years ago.
“Hawthorne Towers has been and continues to be an iconic landmark within this tree-lined neighborhood and all of Montclair for that matter thanks to lifestyle amenities and features typically not associated with this trendy, high-population density municipality,” Oropeza said. “It is this uniqueness that attracted the buyer, along with the apartment property’s tremendous curb appeal and Montclair’s sustained tenant pipeline.”
Located in the township’s Elm Street and Bloomfield Avenue section, the midrise building dates back to 1962 and has been continually updated, Gebroe-Hammer said. The firm added that Hawthorne Towers has amenities such as a pool with a sundeck and resort-style furnishings, an outdoor grill and picnic area and on-site covered garage parking.
It also noted that it sits within Montclair’s greatest income-growth neighborhood over the past five years, citing data from NeighborhoodScout.com. The collection of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom homes is less than a three-minute walk to the Bloomfield Avenue Business District and one mile to the Bay Street train station, while residents have quick access to the town’s nine bus routes and highways such as the Garden State Parkway, Interstate 280 and Route 46.
“The combination of superior connectivity, Hawthorne Towers’ historically strong occupancies and Montclair’s reputation as a dynamic residential community are examples of why transit-centric, train line submarkets such as this top investor requirements,” Brecher said.
