The Gateway, 9 West South Orange Avenue, South Orange, NJ

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ—A partnership of EEA Industries and Soundview Real Estate Partners—and affiliates South Orange Commons Tenant and South Orange Commons III Urban Renewal—has sold The Gateway, a new highly-acclaimed transit-oriented development with 57 luxury apartments and 9,000 square feet of Class A retail space in downtown South Orange, NJ, to Shamah Properties, a private investor, for $32.77 million.

With a per unit price approaching $550,000, the sale of The Gateway exceeded the previous record for the highest sale price per unit for an apartment building in all of Essex County by more than $100,000 per unit according to data available from Real Capital Analytics, a proprietary real estate research firm.

The Kislak Company's mother-daughter sales team of senior vice president Joni Sweetwood and sales associate Julie Gralla handled the deal. Sweetwood represented the sellers and Gralla represented the purchaser.

Kislak's mother-daughter sales team of senior vice president Joni Sweetwood, right, and sales associate Julie Gralla, handled both sides of the deal.

“From start to finish, this was an extraordinary project and sale,” says Edward Ayuso II, the founder and principal of EEA Industries. “Joni and her colleagues were very helpful, professional and 'hands-on' with whatever we needed from when we acquired the land in 2011, through the development process and culminating in this record sale. My partners and I are very pleased with the results and are committed to remaining in South Orange and being a part of its continued renaissance over the next few years.”

The property is located immediately west of the South Orange train station at 9 West South Orange Avenue, approximately 18 miles from Manhattan. As previously reported by GlobeSt.com, MLK Real Estate Capital provided the acquisition financing to Shamah Properties for the transaction.

Completed in 2014, the property includes nine one-bedroom apartments, 48 two-bedroom apartments, three ground floor retail spaces and on-site parking. At the time of closing, the property's apartments were fully occupied. Two of the retail spaces were occupied and the third retail space was recently leased to a new tenant.

Often touted as “Brooklyn West,” South Orange continues to attract residents from
New York City and elsewhere given its charming village, diverse community, vibrant restaurant and arts scene and easy accessibility to New York City. A midtown direct train from South Orange is only 28 minutes to New York's Penn Station.

“The Gateway was truly a transformative project for South Orange Village,” says Sweetwood. “For years prior to Ed's involvement, the site was a long-shuttered car dealer. It sat vacant and in disrepair, negatively impacting the west side. Following the success of the nearby South Orange Performing Arts Center, Ed and his team helped to further transform the area and created opportunities for other developers with new apartments, restaurants and commercial space. I am proud of our accomplishments and look forward to working together on many more transactions.”

Sweetwood and Gralla are also former South Orange residents.

“Growing up in South Orange, it is exciting to see how much it has changed and improved in recent years,” says Gralla. “The Village has become like Hoboken, where I currently live, and is also attracting local and national investors and developers. I have known the purchaser since I started in the business and knew, based on his vision, that he would be perfect buyer for The Gateway.”

Since 2001, Kislak and EEA Industries have also worked together on several other projects. Sweetwood previously represented Ayuso in the purchase of the land for The Gateway, in the purchase of two other properties in South Orange that were successfully redeveloped and sold as condominiums and in the purchase of a half-acre redevelopment parcel across from the Gateway. In the latter transaction, Gralla represented the seller. Kislak and EEA are also working on another nearby redevelopment site.

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Sweetwood and Gralla are also former South Orange residents.

Instant Insights /

Gateway Sale Sets a Per-Unit Record for Essex County, NJ

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