The Journal Square development party is slated to welcome another crane to the landscape in the coming months as a 27-story tower along Jersey City’s Newark Avenue has secured construction financing.
SCALE Lending, the debt financing arm of Slate Property Group, announced that it has finalized two cross-collateralized loans totaling $243 million with Long Island-based Namdar Group. The biggest component is a $160 million construction loan for 626 Newark Avenue, a mixed-use development that will incorporate rental apartments, 9,915 square feet of street-level retail, and 17,747 square feet of office space.
Renderings were revealed early last year for the project, which is designed by C3D Architecture. 626 Newark Avenue is slated to rise 293 feet and includes a total of 576 residential units that skew smaller, breaking down as 504 studios, 38 one-bedrooms, 24 two-bedrooms, and 12 three-bedroom spaces.
The project does not include any off-street parking for vehicles but does call for bicycle parking areas capable of storing 276 bikes. A rooftop amenity space is also called for at the development, which continues the aesthetic of Namdar’s other developments in Jersey City by featuring a glass-heavy and modern exterior.
626 Newark Avenue became a corner lot back in 2020 when Hudson County completed the Central Avenue extension. The development site sits across the street from the future Frank Guarini Justice Complex along one of the fastest-growing stretches in Jersey City.
AJD Construction will serve as the general contractor for the project, which is expected be completed in 2026.
“The market’s appetite for multifamily in Journal Square far exceeds available supply and is the single most important demand driver that continues to attract us back to the neighborhood,” said Martin Nussbaum, Co-Founder and Principal at Slate Property Group. “Namdar Group remains one of the most active developers with a tried-and-true track record in the neighborhood.”
Namdar Group are bringing a total of six towers to the Journal Square neighborhood, several of which are connected by the emerging Homestead Place Pedestrian Plaza. The first three, at 28 Cottage Street, 618 Pavonia Avenue, and 26 Van Reipen Avenue, have already been completed.
In a second transaction, SCALE is providing an $83 million bridge loan for 26 Van Reipen. The proceeds will be used to retire $73 million in construction financing and fund the lease-up and stabilization of the property, which was completed late last year.
SCALE has now deployed $403 million across three loans to Namdar Group in Journal Square over the past six months alone. The loans for 626 Newark and 26 Van Reipen were arranged by Drew Fletcher and Bryan Grover of Greystone Capital Advisors.
