Hope’s Crossing, a 125-unit apartment complex in Toms River that recently was converted to market-rate from affordable housing, was sold recently, according to the Kislak Company Inc., which arranged the sale.
Seller Cox Cro Urban Renewal Associates LP sold the property for $33,750,000 to Hope Gardens Apartments LLC of Lakewood, according to the July 14 deed filed with Ocean County. The seller is affiliated with Pennrose Properties Inc., and the buyer is affiliated with Lakewood-based Goldcrest Properties.
The mostly two- and three-bedroom apartments span 14 two-story buildings on the 12.6-acre property at 1 Vans Way.
Hope’s Crossing opened in 1995 as affordable housing with 30 years of tax breaks that expired last September.
The property was a “vital element” of the Toms River 2025 Housing Element & Fair Share Plan, the fourth-round listing of affordable housing under the Mount Laurel doctrine, according to Township records.
But the town was left scrambling to adjust under the court-imposed deadline after the owner decided not to renew the property for another 30 years as affordable housing.
“There was tremendous interest in the property because of its location,” Jason A. Pucci, Kislak’s CEO, told Jersey Digs in an interview.
Added Barry Waisbrod, the Kislak executive vice president who handled the sale: “This was an extraordinary value-add opportunity since the property was previously affordable but is now market rate in one of the strongest and fastest growing markets in New Jersey. The purchaser was eager to add this attractive and well-maintained property to its portfolio.”
Although both Ocean County and Toms River have a large number of rental properties, the vacancy rate is low, and that is typical of all of New Jersey, Pucci said.
“We do have a shortage of housing,” he said.
