Harborside in Jersey City — Courtesy: Veris Residential Inc.
By Joshua Burd
Veris Residential Inc. has completed its sale of a Jersey City development site to Related Cos., whose plans for the parcel call for 800 apartments one block from the Hudson waterfront.
The property, commonly known as Harborside 4, spans 1.34 acres within the mixed-use Harborside complex. The site at 20 Christopher Columbus Drive traded for $58 million and is now slated to become a luxury high-rise that would mark Related’s first project in New Jersey.
Veris Residential, which was known as Mack-Cali Realty Corp. until 2021, has moved in recent years to trim its portfolio and raise cash while exiting the office sector to become a full-fledged apartment owner. It announced in late July that it was under contract to sell Harborside 4 and closed on the deal in early October, as it reported in its quarterly earnings release.
“The third quarter marked another period of positive results, a testament to our Class A multifamily portfolio, leading operational platform and continued execution of non-core asset sales,” Veris Residential CEO Mahbod Nia said. “Our recent transaction closings, despite a deteriorating transaction market backdrop, provided us with valuable liquidity and the ability to repay our transitional loan facilities in just three months.”
Cushman & Wakefield’s Andy Merin, David Bernhaut, Gary Gabriel, Frank DiTommaso and Ryan Dowd and CBRE’s Jeff Dunne, Bill Shanahan and Roland Merchant represented Veris Residential in the deal, while Brian Whitmer also played an integral role in the transaction.
“Veris and Related worked diligently together to close the deal, with both sides getting creative to overcome challenges associated with former site limitations and restrictions,” Merin said. “The proposed project will continue to transform Jersey City’s Exchange Place community into a vibrant, high-end rent district offering future residents top-quality, luxury product.”
Harborside 4 was once slated for a 1.2 million-square-foot office tower, which Mack-Cali announced in fall 2016 as part of a planned partnership with SJP Properties. Instead, it will become part of Jersey City’s still-booming multifamily pipeline, boasting a location that is steps from PATH, Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, bus and NY Waterway ferry service.
It’s also less than a mile from the Holland Tunnel.
Veris places another Harborside office tower, land site under contract for combined $104 million
