The Hyatt Regency Jersey City at 2 Exchange Place in Jersey City — Courtesy: JLL
(Editor’s note: This story was updated Tuesday, Dec. 13, with additional information from JLL.)
By Joshua Burd
Veris Residential Inc. has completed its sale of the Hyatt Regency Jersey City, as the real estate investment trust continues to shed properties outside the luxury apartment sector.
The company had owned the 351-room property in partnership with affiliates of Hyatt Hotels Corp., but announced in early August that it would sell the facility at 2 Exchange Place. Last week, Taconic Capital Advisors and HEI Hotels & Resorts announced their acquisition, noting that the latter would manage the asset while maintaining the Hyatt Regency flag.
JLL’s hotels and hospitality team, led by Senior Managing Director Jeff Davis and Executive Vice President Stephany Chen, represented the seller with local market support from Senior Managing Director Jose Cruz of the firm’s New Jersey capital markets group. Terms were not disclosed, although Jersey City-based Veris said in August that the hotel and a Holmdel office building it owned were slated to sell for a combined $132 million.
“We are pleased to further our partnership with HEI and begin an exciting relationship with Hyatt,” said Andrew Lam, a director in Taconic Capital Advisors’ commercial real estate group. “Hyatt Regency Jersey City was a compelling opportunity to acquire a world-class hotel with a strong segmentation mix and a diverse set of revenue contributors. The highly accretive assumable financing allowed us to continue our thesis for well-located urban, upscale hotels in an otherwise prohibitive financing environment.”
In announcing the deal, Taconic noted the full-service property sits on a pier extending over the Hudson River. The building includes a fitness center and an indoor heated pool, a restaurant and lounge and 20,000 square feet of meeting space that has long served as a popular venue for corporate retreats, weddings and social gatherings, while it sits among 28 million square feet of office space within a one-mile radius.
The 20-year-old hotel has seen more than $15 million in upgrades since 2010, but its new owners are slated to make major enhancements to the guestrooms, food and beverage outlets and event spaces, according to a news release. In conjunction with the purchase, Taconic and HEI were successful in assuming a $100 million fixed-rate CMBS mortgage with ample remaining term.
“Hyatt Regency Jersey City is a wonderful property with a rich legacy that has greatly benefitted from Jersey City’s rapidly expanding corporate base as well as the revitalization of Hudson Yards and Lower Manhattan,” said Clark Hanrattie, a partner at HEI. “We are proud to team with Taconic on this important transaction and we are looking forward to making the hotel the very best it can be.”
The joint acquisition follows Taconic and HEI’s March 2022 purchase of the Westchester Marriott, a 15-acre in Tarrytown, New York with 444 guestrooms and 26,700 square feet of conference and meeting space, the news release said. Over the past two years, Taconic has been involved in hotel transactions throughout the capital structure, spanning more than 20 properties totaling more than 5,000 keys.
