Assignment

NAI Dileo-Bram & Co. (NAIDB) Associate Vice President, Kelly Bayer was retained as the exclusive listing agent to market a two-building, mixed-use portfolio at 54 and 13 W. Somerset Street in Raritan, NJ.

The assignment was initiated as result of a personal relationship Bayer developed with the property owner at a business meeting unrelated to commercial real estate.

Situated at a prominent corner within the municipality’s main business corridor, the portfolio was comprised of 10 apartment units, four commercial suites and a shared parking lot. Nearby retailers included a florist, bridal boutique, restaurants, hair salons and barbers and a coffee house. Local amenities include the town’s public library, Duke Farms and numerous parks along the Raritan River.

Solution

NAIDB positioned the multifamily/office mixed-use property as an exceptional investment opportunity within a burgeoning transit-oriented development corridor. The portfolio was highly stabilized, being fully leased with the exception of one apartment unit.

The customized marketing strategy leveraged the property’s prominent corner location and capitalized on favorable property-value appreciation trends within the municipality. This targeted approach was designed to attract a sophisticated investor seeking a premium, high-occupancy mixed-use property anchored within Raritan’s major municipal transformation zone.

This strategy recognized the dynamics of the Somerset County apartment market, which is heavily concentrated in the hands of private investors. This cohort, which includes high-net-worth families and development companies, owned 80+% of the sector by aggregate asset value and, at the time, accounted for almost all of the acquisition activity over the previous decade.

Other key sale points included:

• Transit-Oriented Location: Positioned only a five-minute walk from NJ Transit’s Raritan Station, maximizing appeal to a broad investor base prioritizing commuter access.
• Central Business District Anchor: The buildings occupy a prominent corner, surrounded by local amenities (coffee houses, restaurants, public library) and new high-density residential developments like The Crossings at Raritan Station.
• Future-Proof Investment: Marketing emphasized Raritan’s ongoing revitalization, which continues to fuel population growth and increase demand for mixed-use properties, ensuring long-term tenant stability.   
  
  

Result

NAIDB successfully implemented the property-marketing plan to facilitate the sale of the portfolio. The buyer was a family-office partnership that had recently sold another multifamily property and executed a 1031 exchange, making the high-occupancy portfolio an ideal target.

A competitive price of more than $2.5M was achieved due to the high demand for quality assets in a market seeing tremendous multifamily development and the sustained, stabilized occupancy of each building.

The transaction highlights NAIDB’s ability to strategically position high-performing assets within dynamic, revitalizing markets, securing an effective divestment for the seller and a valuable asset acquisition utilizing the 1031 Exchange structure for the unnamed buyer.