Normandy OZ Fund Secures Nearly $21M for Jersey City Buy

The two-year, floating rate financing deal was provided by Rialto Capital Management on behalf of the Normandy Opportunity Zone.

The Ashton, Jersey City, NJ

JERSEY CITY, NJ—Normandy Opportunity Zone Fund, LP has secured $20.5 million in financing for its previously announced acquisition of The Ashton apartment development here.

The two-year, floating rate financing deal, arranged by JLL Capital Markets, was provided by Rialto Capital Management on behalf of the Normandy Opportunity Zone, a closed-end, fully discretionary investment fund managed by Columbia Property Trust, Inc.

The Ashton is located at 2 Ash St. in Jersey City’s Bergen-Lafayette neighborhood, a Qualified Opportunity Zone. The property consists of a six-story residential building that features 93 units in a variety of one-bedroom, one-bedroom-plus-den and two-bedroom floor plans ranging from 706 square feet to 994 square feet per unit. The property also includes 62 covered parking spaces and an 8,000-square-foot, second-story deck with fire pits, seating and New York City views.

Other amenities include a rooftop deck with elevator access, two bicycle rack spots per unit, a state-of-the-art fitness center and key card access. Apartments feature porcelain tile throughout units, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, individual tankless HVAC systems and in-unit washers and dryers.

The JLL Capital Markets team that represented Normandy Opportunity Zone Fund included senior managing director Jon Mikula, associate Andrew Zilenziger and analyst Zachary Chaikin.

Mikula says the Jersey City deal is one of the first purchases of the Normandy Opportunity Zone Fund.

On Jan. 27, Columbia Property Trust announced it had closed on its previously announced acquisition of Normandy Real Estate Management, LLC, a developer, operator and investment manager of office and mixed-use assets in New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C. Columbia acquired the operating platform and real property interests of Normandy for aggregate cash and stock consideration of approximately $100 million, exclusive of transaction and closing costs.

With that deal, Columbia acquired Normandy’s property and investment management businesses and their related fee streams, as well as the general partnership interests and certain limited partnership interests totaling approximately 2% in each of Normandy Real Estate Fund III, LP; Normandy Real Estate Fund IV, LP; and Normandy Opportunity Zone Fund, LP.

Collectively, these funds represent approximately 7 million square feet of commercial real estate under management in the Northeastern U.S., including several prominent Manhattan projects. Among these are the Terminal Warehouse project and 888 Broadway in the Flatiron District, as well as the previously announced joint venture partnerships Columbia formed with Normandy at 799 Broadway near Union Square Park and the redevelopment of 101 Franklin (formerly known as 250 Church St.) in the TriBeCa section of New York City.