Haus25 at 25 Christopher Columbus Drive in Jersey City — Courtesy: Veris Residential Inc.
By Joshua Burd
Veris Residential Inc. has landed a $340 million Freddie Mac loan for its recently completed, 750-unit apartment tower in downtown Jersey City, according to published reports.
A story last week by Commercial Observer notes that the real estate investment trust, which is based in the city, used the financing to take out the construction loan for the property at 25 Christopher Columbus Drive. According to regulatory filings from the second quarter, the company had a roughly $297.3 million secured construction loan from QuadReal Finance that was set to mature in December 2024.
The transaction also repatriates equity to Veris, which unveiled the 56-story building known as Haus25 in spring 2022, Commercial Observer reported, citing sources familiar with the deal. CBRE’s James Millon, Tom Traynor, Adam Spengler and Michael Sherman negotiated the five-year, fixed-rate agency loan through its direct lending arm.
Details of the transactions were also included in a post by Traded New Jersey. Through a spokesman, Veris Residential declined to comment.
Designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects, Haus25 rises 600 feet in Jersey City’s Paulus Hook section, comprising a mix of high-end studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments atop a new public school that Veris Residential built at the base of the tower. The building was 96 percent leased through Q2, while the developer announced in April that the property had achieved stable occupancy in early February, significantly ahead of schedule and underwritten rents.
It is the REIT’s newest building as it nears the completion of its exit from the office sector to become exclusively focused on multifamily assets. It’s also a key addition to a portfolio that has increasingly focused on environmentally and socially conscious buildings.
