NYCB Lends $68M on Skylight’s Latest NJ Multifamily Purchase

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Skylight Real Estate Partners and its joint venture partner PCCP have secured $67.7 million in acquisition financing to purchase a multifamily property in Northern New Jersey, Commercial Observer can first report.

New York Community Bank (NYCB) supplied the loan for the JV’s $116.5 million purchase of Hudson Lights, a 277-unit apartment community in Fort Lee, N.J., in a deal that closed Monday. Ares Real Estate was the seller of the 2016-built asset, sources told CO. 

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The deal marks the fourth that Skylight has closed with PCCP on a New Jersey multifamily property just across the Hudson River from Manhattan since its debut last November with a $50 million-plus purchase of the 100-unit Infinity Edgewater. Andrew Miller, founding partner at Skylight Real Estate, said Northern New Jersey is an attractive market for multifamily given the increased hybrid working trends, low supply of affordable New York City apartments and increased office development on the western side of Manhattan. 

“Work from home looks like it’s coming to fruition, and it’s not 100 percent of the time, but it’s not five days a week in the office, and I think that allows people to get bigger, less expensive apartments in more quality buildings. And if they have to do a little bit more traveling on the days that they go in, I think that that makes a tremendous amount of sense for them,” Miller said. “You also have the whole migration of office tenants moving west because of Hudson Yards, and the whole West Side is really booming in terms of office product.” 

CBRE (CBRE)’s Jeff Dunne, Stuart MacKenzie, Eric Apfel, Zach McHale and Travis Langer represented both the buyer and seller in the deal. Jason Gaccione, executive vice president with CBRE Capital Markets Debt & Structured Finance group’s New York City and New Jersey offices, was the debt broker.

Located at 2030 Hudson Street, Hudson Light comprises a range of apartment options from studios up to three-bedroom units. Tenant amenities include a rooftop pool, co-working space, a dog spa, a resident lounge, a kids playroom and a gym. The property also provides complimentary shuttle service to and from New York City’s 178th Street subway stop. 

“We are pleased to add Hudson Lights to our growing multifamily portfolio along the New Jersey waterfront,” Brian Haber, a PCCP senior vice president, said in a statement.  “This acquisition presented an opportunity to buy a 2016 vintage Class A multifamily at a significant discount to replacement cost.” 

A retail portion of the property was not involved in the acquisition. The retail space, which includes iPic Theatres and Cycle Bar, was sold to New Jersey developer Anthony LoConte in 2021. 

Officials at NYCB did not immediately return a request for comment. 

Andrew Coen can be reached at acoen@commercialobserver.com