Jersey City luxury apartment development secures senior and mezzanine financing

MORRISTOWN, N.J., Apr. 1, 2025 – JLL Capital Markets announced today that it has secured financing for Coles Street Apartments, a 465-unit, to-be built, high-rise luxury apartment community in Jersey City, New Jersey.

JLL worked on behalf of the borrower, The Hekemian Group, to arrange senior financing through Kennedy Wilson and mezzanine financing through Red Cove Capital.

Coles Street Apartments, located at 305 Coles St. in historic Downtown Jersey City, offers residents convenient access to New York City via the nearby Grove Street and Newport PATH stations. Situated within walking distance of these transportation hubs, the property provides easy commutes to Midtown Manhattan and Hudson Yards, while also being surrounded by excellent shopping, dining and entertainment options, as well as major employment centers.

Jersey City's multifamily market is boasting an impressive three percent submarket vacancy rate, driven by office tenant migration from Midtown Manhattan and NYC renters seeking more affordable options. The city boasts impressive demographics, with a dense, young and affluent population making it the most sought-after multifamily market in New Jersey. This demand has led to significant growth in Class A inventory and rental rates, particularly in the Historic Downtown Multifamily Submarket. With an average income of $196,344 within a one-mile radius of the community, Jersey City supports a robust demand for luxury amenity-rich multifamily rentals.

Cole Street Apartments is a to-be-built luxury residential complex featuring studios, one- and two-bedroom units with an average size of 875 square feet. Residents will enjoy high-end unit features such as hardwood-style walnut flooring, silestone and quartz countertops, sleek wood cabinetry, stainless steel kitchen appliances, oversized windows and outdoor balcony spaces. The community will offer an array of upscale amenities, including a rooftop pool and lounge area, golf simulator, club rooms, work lounges, fitness center, concierge service and on-site garage parking, all while providing stunning views of the Manhattan skyline. Additionally, the development is planning to include 8,142 square feet of ground floor retail space.

JLL Capital Market’s Debt & Equity Advisory team representing the borrower was led by Senior Managing Director Thomas Didio, Managing Director Thomas E. Didio, Jr, Director Gerard Quinn and Associate John Cumming.

"Jersey City's multifamily market continues to demonstrate robust fundamentals, attracting both developers and investors with its strong demographics and proximity to Manhattan,” said Didio, Jr.. “The successful arrangement of this financing underscores confidence in the NJ Waterfront and affirms the quality of this luxury development led by The Hekemian Group. 305 Coles is poised to meet the growing demand for high-end rentals in this thriving submarket."

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 and advisory, debt advisory, equity advisory or a recapitalization. The firm has more than 3,000 Capital Markets specialists worldwide with offices in nearly 50 countries.

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The Hekemian Group, with over 90 years of experience, is one of the country's most stable property owners and developers specializing in high-quality real estate for long-term ownership. Their diverse portfolio includes luxury residential, mixed-use, retail/lifestyle and industrial/office properties strategically located in strong demographic areas across New Jersey, the Northeast United States and California. The company's assets are held both privately and through the First Real Estate Investment Trust of NJ (FREVS), a publicly-traded REIT co-founded by the Hekemian family.

Kennedy Wilson (NYSE: KW) is a leading real estate investment company with over $28 billion of assets under management in high growth markets across the United States, the UK and Ireland. We focus primarily on rental housing, with over 60,000 multifamily and student housing units owned by the company or financed through our growing credit platform. Drawing on decades of experience, our relationship-oriented team excels at identifying opportunities and building value through market cycles, with more than $60 billion in total transactions closed across the property spectrum since going public in 2009. Kennedy Wilson owns, operates, and builds real estate within our high-quality, core real estate portfolio and through our investment management platform, where we target opportunistic investments alongside our partners. For further information, please visit www.kennedywilson.com.

RCC is a residential focused investment company that provides capital to residential developer, owner, operators nationally. RCC is a fully integrated, internally managed investment and asset management platform dedicated exclusively to the residential sector and this focus enables us to more effectively source, execute and manage equity and credit investments within the space. RCC has developed a reputation for being flexible in its approach and providing certainty of execution on complex and time sensitive transactions. The Principals of RCC have collectively invested ~$2.0 billion with total capitalization in excess of ~$9.0 billion, representing ~26,000 units, ~100 individual transactions, across ~40 states, with over 50 operating partners. Since forming RCC, the Principals have invested in more than ~6,000 units nationally with total costs exceeding ~$2.1 billion