JLL arranges $135M debt and equity for Yonkers apartment tower

JLL Capital Markets arranged $135 million in construction financing and joint venture equity for The Ibex at Ridge Hill, a 282-unit apartment building in Yonkers, N.Y. Connect CRE reported the deal Oct. 28.

Bank OZK is the senior construction lender and Eagle Realty Group LLC the LP equity investor. The size of Eagle Realty's equity investment was not disclosed. JLL senior managing directors Evan Pariser and Aaron Niedermayer and director John Lowe arranged both pieces for a development team led by Saber-Hightower and Rafferty Real Estate.

$135 million across 282 apartments works out to about $479,000 per unit, a comparison point for lenders and allocators weighing ground-up suburban New York multifamily exposure.

Saber-Hightower bought Parcel K at 22 Lembo Drive in Ridge Hill earlier this month to develop a 17-story building on the site. The property will use an existing adjacent parking structure with 423 dedicated resident spaces, which spares the project a podium or underground garage.

“Equity capital remains highly selective, particularly for ground-up development, so investors are looking closely at basis, location, product, sponsorship and their ability to execute,” Pariser said. The Ibex “checked those boxes,” and JLL structured a capital stack aimed at carrying the project into construction.

As Private Wealth Daily previously reported, the development includes 28 affordable units among the 282, and construction had started as of early October.