483 Bloomfield Ave. in Montclair — Courtesy: Saxum Real Estate
By Joshua Burd
Saxum Real Estate has sold a boutique office building in downtown Montclair for $4.4 million, in a recently completed deal by Marcus & Millichap.
According to the real estate firms, a private investor purchased the 8,568-square-foot asset at 483 Bloomfield Ave. as part of a Section 1031 like-kind exchange. The deal comes five years after Saxum purchased the 100-year-old building and the adjacent structure at 475 Bloomfield Ave., giving way to a multimillion-dollar renovation as part of a value-add strategy.
The modernization helped attract Sitetracker, a locally based software firm, which occupies 483 Bloomfield on a long-term basis.
“The repositioning of 483 Bloomfield required ingenuity and execution from each of Saxum’s verticals, and emerges as a completely unique asset in Montclair,” said Matt Wassel, a principal at Saxum. “Sitetracker’s interest and emergence as the proper fit for the building, while exciting, also presented challenges, but Saxum was able to utilize its platform and relationships throughout Montclair to create a path to execution.
“Saxum’s commitment to restoring iconic assets and their irreplaceable components along with Sitetracker’s forward-thinking vision for their space, merged seamlessly together to deliver a finished product that made all parties proud.”
Marcus & Millichap’s Alan Cafiero led the sale process for the building, formerly a wealth management branch for the adjacent bank. Chris Murphy, a partner with Newark-based Murphy Schiller & Wilkes LLP, led the team in securing a minor subdivision before the Montclair planning board, while Partner Matthew J. Schiller acted as lead transactional counsel for Saxum.
The investment firm, meantime, noted that the deal represents the culmination of its first investment thesis, which focused on neglected buildings in historic, transit-oriented downtowns.
“The 1031 investor pool has historically always eyed limited landlord responsibility net leases with strong credit as their most desired asset class,” said Cafiero, a senior managing director for investments at Marcus & Millichap. “483 Bloomfield Avenue was no different. Not only did this property have a long-term net lease with a credit tenant, but it was ideally located in the heart of one of New Jersey’s most sought-after downtowns.”
Joseph Belgiovine of Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. arranged a $1.7 million acquisition loan for the deal, noting that the seven-year financing has a 5 percent interest rate.
“Our client is thrilled we were able to secure highly competitive fixed-rate financing to acquire this property in a tumultuous interest rate environment,” said Belgiovine, a first vice president based in the firm’s New Jersey office.
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