Nothing validates a real estate sector and a market's strength like a record transaction, and that's what the $346 million sale of 101 Hudson St. did for offices and the Hudson River waterfront in New Jersey.
The Birch Group acquired the 42-story tower in Jersey City in a deal last year that demonstrated faith in the future and resiliency of the Garden State's troubled office sector — even in the work-from-home era that started during the COVID-19 pandemic. The new landlord has also vowed to make improvements in the skyscraper, which can only help bolster the property's role as an economic driver in the Hudson County city where the art deco building is a local icon.
For those reasons the sale has earned a 2023 CoStar Impact Award for a lease or acquisition in Northern New Jersey, as judged by real estate professionals familiar with the market. The transaction represented one of the of the largest single-asset sales in New Jersey's history and the largest office sale in the state in 2022.
About the deal: The sale of the property by Veris Residential was completed during one of the most challenging capital markets environments since the previous economic downturn in 2008. Cushman & Wakefield planned to take the first bids for 101 Hudson during the second week of March 2020, which turned out to be the same week that the pandemic was publicly announced as a global crisis. That temporarily derailed the marketing campaign.
Later, prospective buyer The Birch Group's Korean-based lender bowed out of the deal, leading to a scramble to capitalize it. The sale finally closed in October last year.
What the judges said: The sale marks a significant development in the New Jersey office market, according to a judge.
They made it happen: Cushman & Wakefield executive managing director Frank DiTommaso; executive vice chairs Andy Merin and David Bernhaut; vice chairman Kevin Donner; and senior director Ben Lushing brokered the deal.