David Oropeza (left), executive managing director, Gebroe-Hammer Associates, and Debbie Pomerantz, senior vice president, with 742 Park Ave., East Orange (photo composite)

EAST ORANGE/NEWARK, NJ—The dynamic revival where East Orange and Newark converge is energizing multifamily investment velocity and sales benchmarks throughout the two cities, as Gebroe-Hammer Associates recently arranged three separate sales totaling $31.7 million for four buildings containing 245 units.

David Oropeza, executive managing director, spearheaded the sales, which involved the trade of 26 units at 742 Park Ave., in East Orange and a new $257,692 per-unit-price benchmark for the municipality.

Oropeza also exclusively represented the seller in the trades of 25 Van Velsor Pl., and 103 Chancellor Ave., both in Newark, as well as the sale of 110 Halsted St., in East Orange, which garnered a $201,785 per-unit-price. Senior vice president Debbie Pomerantz procured the buyer in the sale of the Park Avenue and Newark properties, which occupy one city block along Chancellor Avenue, between Van Velsor and Parkview Terrace.

“East Orange and Newark are garnering a lot of attention lately for their urban-renewal initiatives, at the core of which is each city's multi-family housing stock – both existing and newly developed,” says Oropeza. “These revitalization efforts didn't just happen overnight. They have been fed by a wide range of factors, including visionary multi-family investors who aggressively pursued value-add and development opportunities over the course of many years that are now coming to fruition.”

In East Orange, where local officials, private developers and established property owners have been collaborating to transform once-blighted properties, the newly constructed 742 Park Avenue is a three-story 26-unit building comprised of studio, one- and two-bedroom units, all of which exceed the submarket average in terms of square footage. Built in 2017, each apartment home includes stainless-steel appliances, quartz countertops and in-unit washers and dryers. There are hardwood floors in living spaces and tile flooring in the kitchens and baths as well as on-premises parking.

Also newly constructed, 110 Halsted St. is a 28-unit luxury high rise recently sold for $5.65 million. The property is one of two three-story buildings along Halsted Street delivered to market in the past year.

East Orange is a designated transit village with an extensive bus and rail network. These include the Park Avenue at Park Street as well as Halsted Street at Harvard Street and Halsted Street at Halsted Place stops within steps of the Park Avenue and Halsted Street properties, respectively. Both are served by the nearby Brick Church Station's Gladstone and Morris/Essex Lines offering Midtown-Direct commuter-rail service to New York City.

Oropeza exclusively represented the Park Avenue and Halsted property sellers, 742 Park Avenue West Urban Renewal, and ABS9 110 Halsted, respectively. Pomerantz procured the buyer, Nova Appian, for 742 Park Ave., and Oropeza arranged the acquisition of 110 Halsted St. for Saket Properties & Management.

To the south via the Garden State Parkway are the Van Velsor Place and Chancellor Avenue properties—known as The Normandie—encompassing a total of 191 units sold for a combined $19.35 million. Situated within Newark's South Ward in the residential Weequahic neighborhood, the adjacent six-story properties' mix of studio to three-bedroom layouts were fully occupied at the time of sale.

“Both complexes appeal to Newark's varied tenant base of millennial-age professionals to families because of their residential vibe, just beyond the city center, within a lively city on the rise,” says Pomerantz., who procured the buyer of both properties, Nova Appian. Oropeza exclusively represented the seller, Normandie Group and Van Velsor Group.

Instant Insights /

Multifamily Sales Remain Hot As East Orange/Newark Corridor Revives

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