by Paul Schott
STAMFORD — OneWall Communities, a Stamford real estate firm focused on workforce housing, announced this week the $30 million sale of two apartment buildings in Newark, N.J.
The transaction includes the six-story, 108-unit building at 103 Chancellor Ave., and the five-story, 83-unit building at 25 Van Velsor Place. OneWall officials declined to disclose the buyer.
After acquiring the properties between 2017 and 2018, OneWall said it made a number of capital improvements that included upgrades to the apartments and common areas. The buildings house mostly one- and two-bedroom apartments that OneWall officials said are rented at market rates, but “well below competing properties in the market.”
“OneWall correctly identified long-term growth trends in the Newark market when we acquired these assets, and we are excited to continue our investment focus in suburban markets in regions with abundant employment opportunities,” OneWall Partner and Chief Investment Officer Nate Kline said in a statement. “Shifting demographic trends have created significant opportunities for attractive real estate investment returns throughout the east coast.”
Other recent deals for OneWall include the $97 million acquisition last month of a 459-unit apartment complex in Temple Hills, Md., and the $53 million sale in January of a 301-unit housing portfolio in East Orange, N.J.
CBRE Institutional Properties represented OneWall Communities in the Newark and East Orange transactions and also helped secure a buyer in those deals. CBRE’s team for the Newark and East Orange sales included Jeffrey Dunne, Jeremy Neuer, Steve Bardsley, David Gavin, Rich Gatto, Fahri Ozturk, Travis Langer and Zach McHale.
“We are very pleased to have represented OneWall Communities in this sale,” Dunne, vice chairman at CBRE, said in a statement. “The value-add potential of the assets drew significant interest from the investor community. The buyer thoroughly understood the portfolio’s potential from the outset and acted quickly and aggressively to secure the deal.”
Founded in 2010, OneWall has acquired and managed since its inception more than 5,500 units of rental housing across New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Pennsylvania. The company has Stamford offices at 707 Summer St.
