2 South Willow St. in Montclair — Photo by Skyviews Survey/Courtesy: Tishman Speyer
By Joshua Burd
Tishman Speyer has acquired 200 apartments in downtown Montclair for more than $96 million, adding a building that opened in 2021 as part of a high-profile redevelopment project.
Brokers with CBRE arranged the transaction at 2 South Willow St., a 172,279-square-foot property that is one block from the acclaimed Wellmont Theater. Tishman Speyer now intends to upgrade the building’s lounge, roof deck, common areas and mechanical systems, with plans to also reorient the lobby and add a coworking lounge and pet washing station.
CBRE’s Jeffrey Dunne, Stuart MacKenzie, Eric Apfel and Travis Langer represented an undisclosed seller in the $96.15 million deal.
“Two South Willow offers an elevated customer experience curated with high-quality modern finishes, robust amenities and a dynamic mix of restaurant and experiential retail offerings, all set within a premier New Jersey town with direct transit to Manhattan,” Tishman Speyer Managing Director Albert Schmool said. “We are proud to be stewards of this community of high-quality homes — a strong addition to our growing residential portfolio and a part of our core-plus investment strategy.”
Currently 98 percent leased, Two South Willow has a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom homes, plus amenities such as a fitness center, a roof deck, a resident lounge, an interior courtyard, grills and a 203-space parking garage, the global real estate firm said. It also has street-level retail space that is home to restaurants and arts and entertainment spaces, serving as a key piece of an arts district that developers and local officials envisioned when they broke ground in late 2018.
Tishman’s acquisition of Two South Willow is the latest addition to a growing national and international residential platform that already included holdings in New Jersey. Earlier this month, the firm announced that it secured full financing and will begin commence construction on 50 Hudson St. in Jersey City, the second of a two-tower development that will bring more than 2,000 apartments, some 70,000 square feet of retail space and a roughly 32,000-square-foot plaza to the city’s waterfront.
The company added that, over the past several years, it has acquired 1,800 units across five residential communities in New Jersey, Boston, Atlanta, Chicago and Shenzhen, China. It has also commenced construction on some 4,000 rental units during that time in mixed-use projects in the U.S. and China.
Developers launch leasing at 200-unit luxury rental project in Montclair arts district
