Jones Lang LaSalle
Landmark Office Tower Undergoes Conversion to Apartments
By Eric Peterson
Last updated: January 23, 2006 02:26pm
(To read more on the multifamily market, click here.)
NEWARK-Cogswell Realty Group has started work on a $108-million project to turn 1180 Raymond Blvd., a 441,000-sf, 35-story office building, into 317 rental apartments with a ground-floor retail component. Initial occupancy of Eleven80, as the project is called, is slated for late summer.
Built in 1930 as the Lefcourt Building, the landmark art deco-style building was home to many prominent law firms over the years, but has been vacant for the past decade. The New York City-based Cogswell, which has become a key player in the downtown area here since the company was founded in 1996, is doing the project through its 1180 Astro Urban Renewal Investors affiliate in partnership with Lehman Brothers Holdings. Funding is being supplied by Bank of America, Fannie Mae, Prudential, the NJ Housing Mortgage Financing Agency and the Amelior Foundation.
“With more than 100,000 people commuting into the city each day and another 45,000 people connected with nearby educational institutions, we believe there is a strong market potential for housing in Downtown Newark,” says Arthur Stern, Cogswell’s CEO. Indeed, the project represents the city’s first new market rate apartments in some 40 years.
The project also represents the initial implementation of a new financing vehicle facilitated by the state’s Redevelopment Area Bond Financing Law. Under the terms of the law, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority was the conduit issuer of $7.9 million in bonds. The 30-year, taxable bonds, purchased directly by MMA Financial LLC, recently closed at a fixed interest rate of 6.5%.
“The law provides municipalities with a mechanism for financing the up-front costs associated with local redevelopment projects in designated redevelopment areas,” explains Caren S. Franzini, CEO of the NJ EDA. “It’s a great new tool that is likely to be used more as the concept becomes more widely known.”
Located across from Military Park, the completed Eleven80 will have a health club, business center, bowling alley and a media center. The lobby is being restored to its original condition. And while retail tenants haven’t been announced, targets include a bookstore, deli/grocery, restaurant and a drug store.
Landmark Office Tower Undergoes Conversion to Apartments
By Eric Peterson
Last updated: January 23, 2006 02:26pm
(To read more on the multifamily market, click here.)
NEWARK-Cogswell Realty Group has started work on a $108-million project to turn 1180 Raymond Blvd., a 441,000-sf, 35-story office building, into 317 rental apartments with a ground-floor retail component. Initial occupancy of Eleven80, as the project is called, is slated for late summer.
Built in 1930 as the Lefcourt Building, the landmark art deco-style building was home to many prominent law firms over the years, but has been vacant for the past decade. The New York City-based Cogswell, which has become a key player in the downtown area here since the company was founded in 1996, is doing the project through its 1180 Astro Urban Renewal Investors affiliate in partnership with Lehman Brothers Holdings. Funding is being supplied by Bank of America, Fannie Mae, Prudential, the NJ Housing Mortgage Financing Agency and the Amelior Foundation.
“With more than 100,000 people commuting into the city each day and another 45,000 people connected with nearby educational institutions, we believe there is a strong market potential for housing in Downtown Newark,” says Arthur Stern, Cogswell’s CEO. Indeed, the project represents the city’s first new market rate apartments in some 40 years.
The project also represents the initial implementation of a new financing vehicle facilitated by the state’s Redevelopment Area Bond Financing Law. Under the terms of the law, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority was the conduit issuer of $7.9 million in bonds. The 30-year, taxable bonds, purchased directly by MMA Financial LLC, recently closed at a fixed interest rate of 6.5%.
“The law provides municipalities with a mechanism for financing the up-front costs associated with local redevelopment projects in designated redevelopment areas,” explains Caren S. Franzini, CEO of the NJ EDA. “It’s a great new tool that is likely to be used more as the concept becomes more widely known.”
Located across from Military Park, the completed Eleven80 will have a health club, business center, bowling alley and a media center. The lobby is being restored to its original condition. And while retail tenants haven’t been announced, targets include a bookstore, deli/grocery, restaurant and a drug store.
posted by Jones Lang LaSalle NJ News Blog at 10:01 AM
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