5) Investors and lenders are hot for multifamily.
When you have multifamily buildings going for as much as $1M/unit in Manhattan, investors are going to look in the Sixth Borough, says Jose. (But not the Seventh Borough, which is East Lansing, Mich., for some reason.) His team is involved in a Hoboken building sale and has given 40 tours of the property. He’s seeing private groups, equity, pension funds, insurance advisors, and others seeking deals.
Jose’s colleagues Jim Cadranell, Jon Mikula, and Samuel Seiden recently arranged a $35M refi for the 128-unit The Metropolitan of Hoboken apartment community on behalf of AEW Capital Management; the three-year, fixed-rate loan was placed through Capital One. For the longer term—think seven to 10 years' financing—you can get sub-4% if you have the right product and sponsor, Joshua says.
Moderator Ron Kaplan, a partner at CohnReznick, asked panelists what they’re seeing in terms of foreign buyers overall in NJ. Jose reports there’s been some investment—but not a lot—from Israeli, Singaporean, and Chinese money. Jonathan adds that for the most part, asset sizes in NJ are mostly too small for these buyers’ direct investment requirements. Ron tells us he's been working with many private equity clients in planning for acquisitions and dispositions, as well as helping the firm's clients structure JVs with a variety of domestic and international equity partners, both from a tax and accounting perspective.
