$46.5M financing secured to develop Fishtown Kensington Village in Philly

MORRISTOWN, N.J., April 12, 2021 – JLL Capital Markets announced today it has arranged a $46.5 million construction loan for the development of Fishtown Kensington Village, a 297-unit multi-housing property located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

JLL worked on behalf of the borrower, an affiliate of Saxum Real Estate Companies, LLC (“Saxum”), to secure the three-year construction loan through the lender, Valley Bank. Saxum has broken ground in conjunction with the closing of the construction financing. Project completion and lease-up commencement is anticipated in the summer of 2022.

The luxury development will include 297 units consisting of 25 artist lofts, 57 studios, 197 one- and 18 two-bedroom units. All units will include in-home washers and dryers, spacious walk-in closets, luxury vinyl tile, gourmet kitchens with stainless steel appliances, ceramic tile backsplashes and quartz countertops. Community amenities will total 10,442 square feet and consist of a co-working café, two club rooms, an industrial kitchen, lounge, two rooftop terraces and fitness center.

Positioned at the corner of 1929-45 East York St. and 1924-44 E. Hagert St., the Fishtown Kensington Village is located in one of Philadelphia’s most up-and-coming, vibrant neighborhoods, recently named “Americas Hottest New Neighborhood” by Forbes in 2018. The transit-orientated location is also one block to the York-Dauphin train station, allowing direct access to Downtown Philadelphia in about 10 minutes. Additionally, the property benefits from the Dauphin and Emerald St. bus stops and Interstate 95, which regionally connects access to New Jersey, New York, Baltimore and Washington D.C. in less than a couple hours.

The JLL Capital Markets team representing the borrower was led by Director Thomas E. Didio, Jr. and Senior Managing Directors Michael Klein and Ryan Ade.

"The closing of this transaction is the culmination of several years of hard work to entitle and capitalize this one-of-a-kind luxury multi-housing development in the Fishtown submarket of Philadelphia,” said Didio Jr. “This Opportunity Zone project was met with tremendous interest in the debt markets, a testament to Saxum’s vision of the project, positive macroeconomic multi-housing trends and the micro desirability of Fishtown. Valley Bank provided an accretive debt structure that will allow the sponsors to execute their development plan to meet the overwhelming market demand.”

JLL Capital Markets is a full-service global provider of capital solutions for real estate investors and occupiers. The firm's in-depth local market and global investor knowledge delivers the best-in-class solutions for clients — whether investment sales advisory, debt placement, equity placement or a recapitalization. The firm has more than 3,700 Capital Markets specialists worldwide with offices in nearly 50 countries.

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