CIT Group Inc. announced that CIT Real Estate Finance provided a senior secured construction loan to Bridge Development Partners, a privately owned commercial real estate firm that develops and acquires industrial and office assets. Financing was provided by CIT Bank N.A., the principal bank subsidiary of CIT. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Bridge Development will use the loan to construct a 488,800-square-foot Class A distribution building in South Brunswick, NJ. The property will have 36-foot ceiling clear heights, cross-dock configuration, 128 loading docks, four drive-in doors, 88 trailer positions, high efficiency T-5 lighting and Early Suppression Fast Response sprinklers.
This is the second financing that CIT has provided for Bridge Development Partners. In June 2015, CIT provided financing to Bridge Development to construct a 263,415-square-foot Class A distribution building in Union, NJ.
Jeff Milanaik, Principal of Bridge Development Partners, said, “The new Class A property, located in the heart of the New Jersey Turnpike (I-95), is in the middle of the Boston-Washington, D.C. corridor, enabling distributors to reach more than 130 million consumers and 21% of the entire U.S. retail sales market within one day’s drive. Furthermore, national and international tenants are attracted to the submarket’s superior highway access and proximity to the NY/NJ ports. CIT’s commercial real estate finance expertise and familiarity with local market dynamics once again made them the ideal partner for us.”
Matt Galligan, President of CIT Real Estate Finance, said, “This central New Jersey market draws many name-brand consumer product tenants due to its prime location, as well as its status among the tenant community as the preferred regional distribution location for New Jersey. We are glad that we were able to work with Bridge Development Partners for the second time this year and continue to support their East Coast growth.”
Steve Reedy, Managing Director, CIT Real Estate Finance, said, “Looking ahead, the widening of the Panama Canal will conclude in 2016, and the raising of the Bayonne Bridge is projected to be complete in 2017. Together, these projects will facilitate the introduction of Post-Panamax vessel trade in the Port of New York and New Jersey, which is anticipated to drive further demand within the NJ distribution facility market. Bridge Development Partners is strongly positioned to seize the opportunities created by these trends, and we look forward to working with them again in the future.”
Bridge Development Partners, LLC is a privately owned firm focused on the development and acquisition of industrial and office real estate in the Chicago, South Florida, Los Angeles and Northern New Jersey regions. Bridge develops investment-grade buildings and business parks, and acquires existing Class A and Class B properties that provide opportunities to add value. Since its inception in 2000, Bridge has successfully acquired and developed more than 9 million square feet of office and industrial buildings/projects valued at more than $850 million. In 2012, the company formed a strategic joint venture with Dallas-based Akard Street Partners, L.P., an investment partnership operated by Hunt Realty Investments, Inc.