The Maxal Group has closed on a $255 million construction loan for a planned 25-story, 381-unit apartment tower at a long-vacant and well-known parcel along the Hudson River in Edgewater. The lender, S3 Capital, announced the deal last week while noting that it will finance the first phase of a $1 billion mixed-use development at 615 River Road.
The new apartments will be among more than 1,200 homes that are slated for the site, where plans also call for more than 1,000 parking spaces, ground-floor retail space and a new public ferry terminal with direct service to Manhattan’s West Side.
“We see immense opportunity in financing transit-oriented residential developments adjacent to major city centers,” said Steven Jemal, managing director of origination with S3 Capital. “This project’s innovative on-site ferry terminal will create lasting value for the entire Edgewater community, and we look forward to supporting The Maxal Group throughout the construction process.”
The financing is the latest step forward for a project that is more than a decade in the making and would revitalize a former Hess oil terminal site opposite New York City. A joint venture led by The Maxal Group acquired the roughly 18-acre property in 2014 but spent several years in a legal battle with the borough over delays in the redevelopment process, citing officials’ ties to rival and now-disgraced developer Fred Daibes.
The dispute, which was detailed in last value year’s corruption trial for former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, ended in 2019 with a settlement between the Maxal venture and borough officials. The pact called for the developers to remediate the site and improve transportation access, allowing them to build up to 1,200 units of market-rate and affordable housing while donating some eight acres to Edgewater for a new school and open space.
In last week’s announcement, S3 noted that the new ferry terminal will provide residents with direct access to Manhattan’s West Side and the Hudson Yards tech pocket in under 15 minutes. It will also have on-site stops with access to NJ Transit bus routes with service to the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
The developer, which has also built the 236-unit Harbor 1500 building in neighboring Weehawken, will also construct a 2.5-acre public waterfront park with 650 feet of river frontage. The space will become part of the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway, an 18.5-mile-long promenade that runs from Fort Lee to Bayonne.
S3, a private lender, said it has originated more than $7 billion across over 750 bridge and construction loans for middle-market residential developments. The firm this year has also opened new offices in Texas and Florida.
