URL®Staten Island housing complex to open in December

Tracey Porpora at The Staten Island Advance reports on the December opening of Ironstate Development Company‘s URL®Staten Island.

Renderings of URL, a new rental complex on Staten Island

URL®Staten Island, the 900-unit housing complex being built at the former Stapleton homeport, is expected to welcome its first residents on Dec. 1.

URL (Urban Ready Life)®Staten Island — being built by the Hoboken-N.J.-based Ironstate Development Company — is a $150 million project to construct 900 rental units in two five story buildings with 35,000 square feet of ground floor retail, 600 parking spaces and a public plaza at the former U.S. Navy homeport.

“This will be a really different type of residential living for Staten Island. I think it’s going to be a credit to the North Shore community. I think it’s taking an underutilized waterfront area and providing really meaningful public access and programming in the form of restaurateurs,” said David Barry, president of Ironstate Development Company, whose portfolio of projects includes Pier Village in Long Branch, N.J.

URL®Staten Island will be the first of several waterfront projects — including the N.Y. Wheel, Empire Outlets and Lighthouse Point in St. George — to take shape on the North Shore.

READ THE FULL STORY AT SILIVE.COM

Jefferson Condos in the East Village sell out

via Julie Strickland/The Real Deal

From left: Jackie Urgo and 211 East 13th Street

The East Village’s Jefferson condominiums are 100 percent in contract.

The final deal at the 82-unit property at 211 East 13th Street, developed by a partnership of SK Development, Ironstate Development Company and Charles Blaichman, was signed last week.

Asking prices ranged from $795,000 for a 536-square-foot studio to more than $3.5 million for a 1,233-square-foot, two-bedroom penthouse. Sale prices averaged at $1,670 per square foot.

A team from the Marketing Directors led by Jacqueline Urgo and Martin Brady handled sales at the development, and closings are slated to start in April 2014.

“The product was planned perfectly for the marketplace, including an exterior that fit in contextually with the neighborhood,” Urgo said via email. “While other developers were building family-sized residences, we planned smaller homes for this marketplace, a decision that was validated by the strong velocity of sales.  Our buyers were predominately primary residents, many of whom were already committed to the East Village neighborhood and wanted to move up to this level of luxury and lifestyle.”

The unit mix, price points and relative lack of new development in the East Village also helped drive the sales, which started this past April, SK’s Scott Shnay told The Real Deal.

And while additional condo projects are a possibility for the area, “I don’t know if there are a ton of potential sites,” he said. “There are some projects planned that are rentals. But [our success] shows there’s definitely demand for higher end condo projects.”

While Downtown development is familiar territory for SK and Blaichman, it marked the first such project for New Jersey-based Ironstate. The firm is one of the Garden State’s largest, and has also partnered with Andre Balazs on the Standard East Village.

SK is also busy with the Reade Chambers, a six-story condo building at 87 Chambers Street in Tribeca, slated to launch sales in the first quarter of 2014. Bruce Ehrmann and Andrew Anderson of Douglas Elliman Development Marketing are the exclusive sales agents for the building.

Reade Chambers, located at 71 Reade Street and which has an alternate address at 87 Chambers Street, will launch sales at the start of the New Year, Shnay said. The 17-unit property has a mix of one- to four-bedroom apartments, with prices ranging from $1.4 million to over $7 million.

Soon after, sales will kick off at 10 Bond Street, which SK is developing with Ironstate and the Chetrit Group. The Noho property will have 11 residences up for grabs, including two- and three-bedroom units, plus one townhouse and one penthouse in the mix. Prices will start at around $4 million and going up to over $12 million, Shnay said.

 

First Group of Harrison Station Rentals Are Fully Leased

Via GlobeSt.com/ANTOINETTE MARTIN

Harrison Station
is now 100% occupied.

HARRISON, NJ-All 275 units are now leased and occupied at the first Harrison Station complex, Greg Russo, a principal of Ironstate Development, tells GlobeSt.com. Debuting last September as the first rental project in a planned mixed-use community on 245 acres around a PATH Station, the building leased quickly from the start.

“We were able to stop offering concessions by March, and are now seeing some decent rent increases,” says Russo. Because the project was the first luxury rental building to go up in a raw post-industrial area where abandoned warehouse buildings still stand on surrounding streets, a month’s free rent was originally offered as enticement.

The development features an Olympic-size outdoor pool and deck, a fitness center, and other amenities. The exclusive marketing and leasing agent for the property was The Marketing Directors, which is based in New York and which has long been active selling and leasing apartments on New Jersey’s Gold Coast.

Ironstate, which has Pegasus Group as a partner in Harrison, is to begin work within a few months on a 136-room Element by Starwood hotel adjacent to the rental complex and PATH station. Also, by the end of the year, the companies will break ground on a second residential complex, Russo says.

The partners are only two of six development companies at work on projects under way at the massive redevelopment site. Russo Development, headed by Edward Russo – no relation to Greg – has begun construction of a 300-unit rental apartment building.

Heller Industrial has nearly completed demolition of buildings across Frank E. Rogers Boulevard from the PATH station, which is itself scheduled to be rebuilt starting next year. Heller expects to begin work on a mixed-use structure including 65 rentals by the end of the year.

The Ironstate/Pegasus building includes almost 13,000 square feet of street-level space, and Russo says this is also filling up. A Five Guys restaurant is now open at the site, and Russo reported recent lease-signings with a Pronto Gourmet market, Fakara restaurant and the hair salon Pro Cut.

Marketing Directors hired to sell East Village condos

The East 13th Street project is New Jersey developer Ironstate’s first in New York City

via The Real Deal 

The group of developers building an 82-unit condominium building at 211 East 13th Street has hired Jacqueline Urgo, president of the Marketing Directors, to promote the property, which is slated for groundbreaking this summer.

The project, which will occupy a vacant site between Second and Third avenues, is being developed by Ironstate Development, Charles Blaichman, and Abram Shnay and his son, Scott Shnay. They are anticipating completing the project by late 2013.

The consortium bought three adjacent lots on the block for $33.2 million in October from Builtgross Associates, a subsidiary of Milstein Properties, and took out a nearly $20.8 million mortgage, according to city property records. Builtgross had owned the sites at 208 East 14th Street, 214 East 14th Street and 216 East 14th Street since 1986.

The project will feature a mix of studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, plus 4,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space on East 14th Street. Amenities include a gym, lounge and roof deck with an outdoor kitchen. Buyers will have a chance to purchase private storage and roof terraces.

Though Blaichman and Abram Shnay are no strangers to the downtown Manhattan development scene, this is the first New York City project for Ironstate, one of New Jersey’s largest developers. The Hoboken, N.J.-based company is also partnering with Andre Balazs to transform the Cooper Square Hotel at 25 Cooper Square into the Standard East Village.

Previously, Ironstate has worked with the Marketing Directors on Garden State properties, among them Jersey City’s 225 Grand and the condos above the W Hoboken hotel.

Blaichman, owner of Chrystie Street-based CM Developers, has frequently collaborated with the Shnays before, including on rapper Jay-Z’s failed bid to develop a Chelsea hotel. Blaichman and the Shnays also jointly built the Urban Glass House, a condo building designed by Philip Johnson at 330 Spring Street, and the Theory Building at 40 Gansevoort Street. — Leigh Kamping-Carder

 

First Phase of Harrison Station Complete

 

By DEBRA HAZEL

Ironstate Development and US Senator Robert Menendezcut the ribbon on the 275-unit building

HARRISON, NJ-The first phase of the Harrison Station mixed-use development here was officially completed on Dec. 9, when US Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Hudson County Executive Thomas A. DeGise and Harrison Mayor Raymond J. McDonough joined developers Ironstate Development and the Pegasus Group for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The group inaugurated a 275-unit luxury rental building that also includes 12,814 square feet of street-level retail space. In time, the Ironstate/Pegasus development will consist of 2,600 residences, 80,000 square feet of retail space and a 136-room, LEED-certified Element hotel with a retail concourse. Construction will begin in early 2012 on the hotel.

“This project is an investment in Harrison’s future that creates hundreds of jobs and paves the way for thousands more,” Menendez said, according to a statement. “It’s a great example of smart growth and how good planning around public transportation can lead directly to economic development. This partnership is a model of how government, business and local communities can work together to usher in a new economic era for Harrison.”

More than 130 residences have already been leased, according to The Marketing Directors, Inc., the community’s exclusive marketing and leasing agent, while 5,500 square feet of retail has been leased to Five Guys Burgers & Fries and Pronto Gourmet.

The project is adjacent to the Harrison, NJ PATH Station, and across the street from the Heller Urban Renewal redevelopment of industrial space, a different project from the Ironstate/Pegasus development.

The new development will create approximately 2,000 construction jobs and 400 permanent commercial jobs, Ironstate says. “It’s been a long and exciting journey to get here, but our company has always believed in this town,” says David Barry, president of Ironstate Development. “The PATH, the wonderful neighborhood and the proximity to highways are just some of the core elements that made this an attractive development opportunity. It’s been a tremendous effort with cooperation from the town, the state and many other entities, and it is gratifying to see it come to fruition.”

Harrison Station building 16 percent rented in two weeks

Five Guys leases retail space in the luxury New Jersey development

By Leigh Kamping-Carder/The Real Deal Online

Jacqueline Urgo, president of the Marketing Directors, and Harrison Station

Almost 16 percent of the units in the first completed building at Harrison Station, the new luxury mixed-use development in Harrison, N.J., have been rented since leasing opened two weeks ago, according to Jacqueline Urgo, president of the Marketing Directors, the development’s exclusive leasing and marketing agent.

Meanwhile, the restaurant chain Five Guys signed a 10-year lease for a 2,500-square-foot retail space earlier this month, said Greg Russo, a principal at Ironstate Development, which is partnering with the Pegasus Group to develop the 27-acre site. The entire retail space is 15,000 square feet.

When completed, Harrison Station will include 2,600 residences, 80,000 square feet of retail and a hotel with up to 140 rooms, which Russo said is the next part of the project to get underway.

The four-story building is made up of a mix of studios and one- and two-bedroom apartments that range from 500 to 1,100 square feet. Monthly rents for the studio apartments start at $1,200, while one-bedrooms start at $1,600 and two-bedrooms at $2,200.

So far, 43 of the 275 residential units have been rented, Urgo said, adding that if the pace continues, the residences should be leased up within four months.

“I think this pace is going to continue, and I think word of mouth and referral is going to increase exponentially,” she said.

Five Guys will occupy a corner retail spot, Russo said. He would not disclose how much the rapidly expanding burger chain will be paying, but said that monthly asking rents range from the mid- to upper-$20,000s. The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Harrison Station’s backers have been promoting the venture — located in an industrial center of Hudson County with markedly less development than places like Jersey City and Hoboken — by touting its luxury amenities and proximity to the Harrison PATH station.

“Harrison really fills the void and offers a more affordable alternative to downtown Jersey City and Hoboken, which were typically the first step out of Manhattan,” Urgo said.

Among the amenities in the building are a two-story lobby with a 24-hour concierge, a fitness center and an outdoor pool. With the PATH station next door, the commute to Manhattan comes in at 20 minutes, Urgo said.

Even before work began at the site in 2005, Ironsgate and Pegasus had always planned to develop rentals before condominiums to establish a residential market for the area, Russo said.

“Generally, in an area that’s a little bit more pioneering, people are much more willing to sign a 12-month lease, as opposed to putting down a down payment and a mortgage,” he said.

After the hotel, the developers plan to erect another rental property before moving on to condos at Harrison Station, Russo said.

 

Harrison Station Grand Opens With Luxury Rentals

via Betsey Kraat/ New Jersey & Co.

HARRISON–A once industrial center is continuing its transition into a residential neighborhood with the opening of Harrison Station, a new luxury rental community ideally situated next to the Harrison PATH Station in this Hudson County town.

With leasing now officially underway for the community’s first phase of 275 studio, one- and two-bedroom residences and the availability of immediate occupancy, the launch of Harrison Station will reenergize the town of Harrison with modern residences, a wide array of amenities, and street-level retail. The town has already seen the opening last year of a 25,000-seat stadium for the New York Red Bulls professional soccer team and the completion of a four-story parking deck available, in part, for Harrison Station residents.

Harrison Station is rising on a 27-acre site that will ultimately feature 2,600 luxury residences, 80,000 square-feet of retail and a hotel with a retail concourse, according to Ironstate Development Company and The Pegasus Group, a joint venture partnership which is developing the New Urbanism master-planned community.

“Harrison is one of the few remaining untapped regions of the New Jersey Gold Coast,” notes Michael Barry, President of Ironstate Holdings, LLC.

“It all starts with our location adjacent to the Harrison PATH Station which offers convenient mass transit service to downtown Newark in 2-3 minutes, Jersey City in ten minutes, Hoboken in 15 minutes and Manhattan in approximately 20 minutes. The site is also just off of Interstate 280 with quick access to the NJ Turnpike. Until now, what’s been missing from Harrison is a new, modern residential offering with a full suite of amenities and supportive street-level retail and dining options to create a comprehensive, lifestyle experience. Harrison Station fills that void and offers a more affordable alternative to downtown Jersey City and Hoboken.”

Monthly rents at Harrison Station currently range from the $1,200’s for studios, from the $1,600’s for one-bedroom homes and from the $2,200’s for two-bedroom residences. Three fully-furnished model homes are open for public viewing.

“The expansive residences feature the best of contemporary architecture and design for stylish, comfortable living,” notes Jacqueline Urgo, President of The Marketing Directors, Inc., Harrison Station’s exclusive leasing and marketing agent. “High ceilings, oversized windows, abundant closets, designer finishes, and chef-inspired kitchens with top-of-the-line GE appliance packages are just a few of the details that make the living experience so exceptional.”

In addition to the well-designed residences, Harrison Station residents enjoy a wide array of onsite amenities, including a two-story attended lobby, state-of-the-art fitness center, residents’ lounge with large-screen TVs and ping pong table, landscaped courtyard with outdoor pool, a beach volleyball court and a parking garage.

“Our goal is to create a vibrant mixed-use community in Harrison in the same vein as Hoboken and Jersey City that respects the industrial past of the neighborhood,” notes Richard Miller, a Principal with The Pegasus Group. “The pedestrian-friendly design and easy access to mass-transit service should appeal to professionals and anyone interested in the New Urbanism lifestyle.”

 

Rentals Fly Off the Shelves

It isn’t the home-sale market that has had a miracle recovery, during this season of credit downgrades and job anxiety. It’s the rental market — which is experiencing nearly frenzied demand.   READ MORE >>>

Grand Achievement as JC Earns Place on the Map

Grand achievement as JC earns place on the map

The developers of 225 Grand, a rental building in downtown Jersey City, announced that all of the 348 luxury residences in the building have been leased 10 months after hitting the market.

The announcement was made by Ironstate Development Company, of Hoboken, and KRE Group, of Bridgewater, the two development companies who partnered on 225 Grand. The Marketing Directors, Inc. was the luxury building’s exclusive marketing and leasing agent.

“When you are able to fully lease a building with 348 residences in less than a year, you’re talking about a special building and a tremendously successful program,” said David Barry, president of Ironstate Development.

“Demand remained consistently strong as renters responded to 225 Grand’s dynamic lifestyle offerings including upscale residences, impressive amenities and a location near a variety of mass-transit options.”

The 15-story residential tower was designed by the architectural firm HLW. It has a fitness center, indoor resident-only parking, 24-hour door man, concierge and an outdoor rooftop swimming pool.

“The success of 225 Grand is also a testament to downtown Jersey City’s emergence as one of the state’s most exciting places to live,” said Jonathan Kushner, president of KRE Group. “It’s become a model urban setting at a time when the appeal of ideally positioned to de- liver that sought-after lifestyle.”

Ironstate & KRE Group Announce Lease Up of Jersey City’s “225 Grand”

225 Grand in Jersey City

348 Residences Rented In 10 Months

The developers of 225 Grand, the premium rental building in downtown Jersey City overlooking the Manhattan skyline and Statue of Liberty, announced today that all of the 348 luxury residences in the building have been leased just 10 months after hitting the market.

The announcement was made by Ironstate Development Company, of Hoboken, and KRE Group, of Bridgewater, two prominent development companies who partnered on 225 Grand. The Marketing Directors, Inc. was the luxury building’s exclusive marketing and leasing agent.

“When you are able to fully lease a building with 348 residences in less than a year, you’re talking about a special building and a tremendously successful program,” said David Barry, President of Ironstate Development. “Demand remained consistently strong as renters responded to 225 Grand’s dynamic lifestyle offerings including upscale residences, impressive amenities and a location near a variety of mass-transit options.”

The 15-story landmark residential tower was designed by the renowned architectural firm HLW. Residents enjoy a host of amenities, including a state-of-the-art fitness center, indoor resident-only parking, 24-hour door man, professional concierge and an outdoor rooftop swimming pool. The building is just steps from the Marin Blvd. Light Rail Station, and is within walking distance to PATH stations at Grove Street and Exchange Place and ferry terminals with service to Manhattan.

“The success of 225 Grand is also a testament to downtown Jersey City’s emergence as one of the state’s most exciting places to live,” said Jonathan Kushner, President of KRE Group. “It’s become a model urban setting at a time when the appeal of downtown living continues to be on the rise, and 225 Grand is ideally positioned to deliver that sought-after lifestyle.”

For more information on 225 Grand, call 201-536-0225, or visit www.225Grand.net.