Hudson Bay Capital Supplies $60M Refi for Redeveloped N.J. Office Campus

A joint venture between Somerset Development and HIG Capital has sealed a $60 million loan to refinance a repurposed New Jersey mixed-use office campus that will soon be home to sandwich chain Jersey’s Mike’s headquarters, Commercial Observer has learned.

Hudson Bay Capital provided the bridge loan for the sponsorship’s  276,900-square-foot property Bell Works Fort Monmouth property in Tinton Falls, N.J. 

Commvault, a data protection firm, developed the property as its headquarters in 2014 before selling it to Somerset last year as part of a plan to reimagine the site as flexible office and retail space.

“By reimagining an underutilized suburban campus as a vibrant mixed-use destination, we’ve created lasting value for investors, tenants and the community,” Ralph Zucker, president and CEO of Inspired by Somerset Development, said in a statement. “This financing reinforces Bell Works’ role as a catalyst for the continued revitalization of Fort Monmouth.”

Located at 1 CommVault Way near where Netflix is building a $1 billion studio complex, Bell Works Fort Monmouth has inked 222,000 square feet of leases since Somerset redeveloped it, the website TAPinto Middletown reported last month. Jersey Mike’s signed a 72,326-square-foot lease to relocate its corporate headquarters there from Manasquan, N.J., and also leased a 2,286 square-foot retail location. The deals bring the property’s occupancy to 88 percent, according to the publication. 

Commvault, which formerly was the sole tenant of Bell Works, has maintained its headquarters at the campus and occupies 101,878 square feet. 

Walker & Dunlop negotiated the debt with a capital markets institutional advisory team consisting of Dustin Stolly, Aaron Appel, Sean Reimer, Keith Kurland, Jonathan Schwartz, Adam Schwartz, Ari Hirt and Stanley Cayre.

“Bell Works Fort Monmouth is a highly differentiated mixed-use campus that continues to demonstrate strong leasing momentum and long-term value creation,” Stolly, senior managing director of capital markets institutional at Walker & Dunlop, said in a statement. “The financing recognizes the strength of the asset’s cash flow today while providing flexibility to support its next phase of growth.”

Hudson Bay Capital did not immediately return a request for comment. 

 Andrew Coen can be reached at acoen@commercialobserver.com.