Newark, NJ — The Singer & Bassuk Organization LLC (SBO), a boutique real estate finance intermediary has arranged a total of $27.5 million in financing for affiliates of RBH Group LLC in Newark. The loans include a $25 million first mortgage land loan from an affiliate of Knighthead Funding LLC covering several future development parcels in the area south of Market St. (SoMa) in downtown Newark, as well as a simultaneously-funded $2.5 million second mortgage from Prudential Impact Investments Mortgage Loans, LLC covering the 909 Broad St. development in Newark.
The Singer & Bassuk Organization LLC serves as global Real Estate Finance Advisor to RBH Group. Scott Singer, president, and Jeffrey Moroch, managing director led SBO’s efforts in the transaction. Laurie Grasso of Hunton & Williams LLP and Leah Sandbank of McManimon, Scotland & Baumann, LLC served as lead borrower counsel.
RBH Group is chaired by president and CEO Ron Beit, and the lead financial investors within RBH Group’s SoMA Newark Development Project are Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group, Nicolas Berggruen, the founder and president of Berggruen Holdings and the Berggruen Institute, Frederick Iseman, CI Capital Partners, and Warren Lichtenstein, Steel Partners.
The SoMa Redevelopment Project encompasses over 15 million s/f of development capacity within a 23-acre area southwest of Market St. The SoMa Master Plan developed by renowned architect Richard Meier and Ron Beit strives to create a place in downtown Newark that brings a mix of daytime and nighttime users to the urban core by encouraging rehabilitation, and new residential and retail development in the center of the city. Specifically, it calls for the emergence of distinct new neighborhoods consisting of thousands of residential units, hotels, retail districts, diverse uses connected via vibrant, walkable and active streets, and development that leverages mass transit.
The project is in close proximity to University Heights, Rutgers University-Newark, Rutgers University Medical School, NJIT, and Essex County College. Positioned between Interstates I-78 and I-280, SoMa is easily accessible to commuters. ν