1 MSF New Jersey Industrial Project Site Lands Loan

Logan Township Industrial Park site. Image via Google Earth

Stalwart Equities has obtained $42.8 million in financing to assist with the purchase of the Logan Township Industrial Park development site in Logan Township, N.J., roughly 25 miles southwest of Philadelphia. Relying on Cushman & Wakefield as its exclusive advisor, Stalwart secured the acquisition loan for the 171.3-acre property from SKW Funding.

The Logan Park site, located off Route 130 near Interstate 295 and the New Jersey Turnpike, consists of a handful of parcels, the largest of which encompasses 166 acres along Nortonville Road. According to Gloucester County records, the sizeable stretch of land and four other parcels had belonged to Keystone Urban Renewal LP, an entity with the same address as the headquarters of Starwood Property Trust.

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The Cushman & Wakefield Equity, Debt & Structured Finance team that represented Stalwart in procuring the bridge loan included John Alascio, Chuck Kohaut, TJ Sullivan and John Spreitzer. According to Alascio, the combination of Logan Park’s location in Southern Jew Jersey’s bustling industrial market and Stalwart’s strong sponsorship attracted significant lender interest that translated into highly competitive financing terms.

Space needed

Logan Park is zoned to accommodate in excess of 1 million square feet of industrial space in two distribution facilities, and all signs indicate that the timing is right for such an addition to the market.

“To meet the constant demand for big-box space, the average footprint of new development projects has persistently risen by almost 40 percent since 2019, as Southern New Jersey has transformed into a dynamic warehouse and distribution hub in the Northeast,” according to a fourth quarter 2021 report by Cushman & Wakefield.

In 2021, Southern New Jersey accounted for a whopping 72 percent of the Greater Philadelphia region’s annual leasing activity, with e-commerce and logistics tenants seeking additional space for expansions in the face of rising transportation costs, according to the report. The vacancy rate in Southern New Jersey, as well as in Gloucester County, closed the year at under 1 percent.

Logan Park is on schedule to be entitled for development within the next 12 to 18 months. The project will yield a Class A distribution campus with cross-docking capability and 40-foot clear ceiling heights, as well as ample trailer and car parking.

Upon completion of the project, Stalwart will likely find a receptive audience of prospective tenants, and the company will be able to charge a pretty penny for the space, too. “Historically tight market conditions are anticipated to persist, and strong absorption totals should outstrip new deliveries, with rental rates projected to rise to new historical heights,” according to the Cushman & Wakefield report.