JLL secures $16.76M construction loan for NJ warehouse

MORRISTOWN, N.J., February 4, 2020 – JLL Capital Markets announced today that it has arranged $16.76 million in construction financing for the development of a 340,000-square-foot, Class A speculative warehouse/distribution center in Lawrence Township, New Jersey.

JLL worked on behalf of the developer, Penwood Real Estate Investment Management, LLC and Metrix Real Estate Services LLC, to secure the three-year construction loan with two one-year extension options through Wells Fargo Bank.

The Class A industrial building is under construction on a 31-acre land site at 10 Princess Road in Lawrence Township within a business park situated to the northeast of Trenton and to the southwest of Princeton. The state-of-the-art cross-dock industrial building will feature 40-foot clear heights, 2,000 square feet of office space, 103 dock-high loading positions, 69 trailer parking stalls and four drive-in doors. The expected completion date is June 2020.

The Princeton area is known for its extremely strong demographics and amenities, as well as being the home to one of the nation’s top universities. In addition to the area’s affluence and deep labor pool, the submarket benefits greatly from an extensive transportation infrastructure that allows logistical access to the major east coast markets in less than one day. The property is immediately off the four-way interchange of I-295 and Princeton Pike and offers prominent frontage on I-295. This location is proximate to and equidistant between both the ports of New York and New Jersey and the Port of Philadelphia, each located approximately 50 miles away. It provides unique accessibility to the New Jersey, Greater Philadelphia, New York City, Greater Maryland and Washington, D.C. metropolitan markets via the New Jersey Turnpike/I-95, Pennsylvania Turnpike; Interstates 195 and 295; U.S. Highway 130; State Route 1; and various other state highways. This enables distributors to reach more than 130 million regional customers and one-third of the country’s population within one day’s drive.

The JLL Capital Markets team representing the developers was led by Senior Managing Director Michael Klein and Analyst Connor Van Cleef.

“JLL is pleased to have placed another loan on behalf of Penwood Real Estate Investment Management and to work with Metrix on its first development project,” Klein said. “This location will provide prospective tenants with exceptional regional access due to its proximity to I-95 and its frontage along I-295. The construction specs check all the boxes for today’s modern industrial users. Given the strength of the overall industrial market, this speculative project will likely be fully leased well in advance of construction completion.”

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 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.

For more news, videos and research resources on JLL, please visit the firm’s U.S. media center Web page: U.S. newsroom.

Penwood Real Estate Investment Management, LLC (Penwood) is an entrepreneurial real estate investment advisory firm dedicated to managing value-added real estate investments for the institutional market.  Formed in 2003, the firm is a registered Investment Adviser based in West Hartford, Connecticut. Penwood combines experienced investment management with the local-market expertise of established strategic relationships and a disciplined management process to optimize value for investors. Penwood’s investment focus remains on value-add investment opportunities in the global gateway markets of Southern California and New York/New Jersey due to the diverse demand generators, inherent supply constraints, dominant seaports and unparalleled transportation infrastructure. For more information, please visit penwoodre.com.  

Metrix is a private investment and development company that was established in 2017 by Michael Nachamkin and is headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey. Metrix’s team also includes Botond Farkas, an experienced construction executive and former colleague of Mr. Nachamkin at Prologis, who will be the partner responsible for managing the GC. Prior to founding Metrix, Nachamkin served as a senior executive focused on industrial development, primarily in the northeast on behalf of Security Capital Industrial Trust (the predecessor to Prologis), Whitehall Industrial Properties (a Goldman Sachs sponsored entity), Prologis and Oakmont Industrial Group. He was most recently head of Industrial Investment Sales, Debt and Equity Placement for HFF. Throughout his career, Michael has developed in excess of 15 million square feet of space throughout the northeast U.S. and Canada. For more information, please visit metrixre.com.