By Joshua Burd
An area lender is touting the completion of 122 micro-apartments in Jersey City, thanks in part to nearly $19 million in construction financing.
Procida Funding, based in Englewood Cliffs, said client Strategic Properties LLC has paid off the $18.5 million loan that it provided in June 2019. The borrower used the proceeds to develop the Nest Micro-Apartments at 184-190 Academy St., helping to transform a vacant parcel in the city’s historic Journal Square neighborhood.
The project, which was managed by March Associates Construction Inc., recently opened and is now in lease-up.
“When this deal initially came in, it had been heavily shopped in the marketplace with little success,” said Brian Foley, a vice president with Procida Funding. “The sponsors had a relatively small track record and originally chose the wrong (general contractor) for the job. Not to mention that this property was the first of its asset class in the area. However, with our local presence and expertise, we were able to mitigate those risks in order to perform seamlessly for the sponsor.”
Nest Micro-Apartments is a 43,310- square-foot building with one ground-floor retail unit, Procida said. Monthly rents start at $1,395, with Common managing the units and Flip Sigi, a Filipino-style taco eatery, slated to occupy the commercial space this fall.
“This is a product I think we will be seeing much more of,” said Derek Weissman, also a vice president with Procida. “This is a perfect example of how we can help our clients throughout the development process. We worked with the sponsorship team to replace their GC with March Construction and proceeded to provide aid throughout the life of the project to ensure its success. Our team was on site multiple times a week. We are thrilled to be part of such a transformative project.”
