Nationwide Lends $50M on New Jersey Apartments Project
Nationwide is on multifamily’s side.
By Andrew Coen November 17, 2023 1:12 pm
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An affiliate of Garden Communities has secured $49.5 million of takeout construction financing for a newly built multifamily asset in northern New Jersey, Commercial Observer has learned.
Nationwide supplied the 10-year fixed-rate loan on the sponsor’s 177-unit Walnut Hill development in Clark, N.J.
JLL (JLL) arranged the transaction with a capital markets debt advisory team led by Evan Pariser, Matthew Pizzolato and Jackie Ferrer.
Pariser, senior managing director at JLL, noted that Nationwide was able to facilitate a 90-day rate-lock for the deal over the summer during the lease-up process under a provision that physical occupancy reach at least 80 percent at the time of the transaction’s closing. When the rate-lock was executed in July, the 10-year Treasury was 75 basis points lower than it is today, according to Pariser.
“An early rate lock is a beautiful thing that you can do with life companies,” Pariser told CO. “We timed it strategically and got a little lucky with interest rates.”
Located at 35 Walnut Avenue, the four-story, two-building apartment community encompasses 240,000 square feet with 28 of the units designated as affordable. Property amenities include a fitness center, a swimming pool, a clubhouse and a game room.
The Walnut Hill property has seen strong demand so far, Pasiser said, due largely to its location near the Garden State Parkway and having New Jersey Transit’s Cranford train stop less than two miles away.
Officials for Nationwide and Garden Communities did not immediately return requests for comment.
Andrew Coen can be reached at acoen@commercialobserver.com
