The seller was the Irving, TX-based JPI, a developer of upscale apartment complexes nationally, with a concentration in the western US. Aberdeen Station Apartments had been JPI's only property in the Garden State.

"Aberdeen Station is expected to benefit from the existing pent-up demand in the market," according to Fernando Nasmyth, senior portfolio manager for the Morristown, NJ-based SSR Realty, referring to the site's location in Central New Jersey's Monmouth County. "This market has high barriers to entry, and we believe demand will continue to push up market rents over the projected holding period.

"The property's superior finishes, high-end amenities and location were also compelling factors in this acquisition," Nasmyth continues, noting that the complex's one- and two-bedroom floor plans have an average unit size of just over 1,000 sf.

The property, incidentally, takes its name from its proximity to the Aberdeen-Matawan train station on New Jersey Transit's North Jersey Coast rail commuter line, which connects to points in North Jersey and New York City. The complex is also located adjacent to Exit 117 of the Garden State Parkway.

Aberdeen Station Apartments is also the first project to be completed within a 104-acre tract, designated for redevelopment, that straddles the border between the two adjacent communities. Besides its redevelopment status, the site also benefits from being part of the state's effort to encourage so-called "transit villages," mixed-use commercial development projects with an emphasis on residential, around existing transportation hubs.

SSR Realty Advisors is a subsidiary of MetLife and an affiliate of State Street Research & Management Co. of Boston. The firm, which has been on an aggressive buying spree on for its clients, also has offices in San Francisco, Boston and Laguna Niguel, CA. It currently has an estimated $5.5 billion of assets on behalf of 90 institutional clients.