Walker & Dunlop, Inc. has secured a $375 million construction loan for JFK Boulevard, a new mixed-use development planned by Nasser Freres in the Journal Square area of Jersey City. The financing, provided by Madison Realty Capital, will support the ground-up construction of the project and is structured as a floating-rate, interest-only loan.
Walker & Dunlop arranged the financing through its Capital Markets Institutional Advisory team. The advisory group included Keith Kurland, Aaron Appel, Adam Schwartz, Jonathan Schwartz, Dustin Stolly, Sean Reimer, Jordan Casella, Christopher de Raet and Jack Krentzman. The team was engaged to capitalize the project and source debt for the sponsor.
According to Walker & Dunlop, JFK Boulevard benefits from a transit-oriented setting within Journal Square, a location that continues to attract large-scale mixed-use and residential development. The team cited the combination of the site, the project plan and the sponsor profile as key elements in bringing the financing together.
“The Walker & Dunlop team was proud to advise Nasser Freres on the capitalization of JFK Boulevard,” said Keith Kurland, senior managing director of Capital Markets and co-head of Institutional Advisory at Walker & Dunlop. “The combination of a premier transit-oriented location, a compelling development program, and an experienced sponsor generated significant interest from the lending community.” His comments underscore the level of lender engagement around the offering and the importance of project fundamentals in the current financing environment.
Upon completion, JFK Boulevard is expected to add 579,577 rentable square feet of residential space to the Jersey City market. The development program calls for 840 residential units, positioning the project as a sizable new multifamily contribution within Journal Square’s ongoing growth trajectory.
The project also incorporates an affordable housing component. Of the 840 residences, 84 units, or 10% of the total, are designated as affordable housing. This allocation aligns the development with Jersey City’s affordable housing goals and embeds income-restricted units into the broader mixed-use community.
With capital now arranged, Nasser Freres has secured a major portion of the funding stack required to advance JFK Boulevard. The loan from Madison Realty Capital and the advisory work by Walker & Dunlop’s Institutional Advisory team frame the project as a notable example of large-scale, transit-oriented multifamily development activity in Journal Square.
