COFINANCE INC. COMPLETES THE PURCHASE
OF PATHMARK’S FORMER HEADQUARTERS
BUILDING IN CARTERET, NEW JERSEY;
INVESTMENT IS 2ND JOINT VENTURE BETWEEN
COFINANCE INC. AND RIVEROAK INVESTMENT
CORP. INC.
CARTERET, NEW JERSEY
- JUNE 20, 2008
Cofinance Inc., the United States
subsidiary of Cofinance Group, a
French-owned real estate investment
company (Collectively “Cofinance”), has
completed the purchase of the former
Pathmark Headquarters Building
(“Property”) located immediately west of
Exit 12 of the New Jersey Turnpike in
the northeast portion of Middlesex
County at 200 Milik Street, Carteret,
New Jersey. The Property is a Class B,
two-story office building totaling
150,000 square feet. Cofinance, in joint
venture with RiverOak Investment Corp.
LLC (“RiverOak”), a private equity real
estate fund, purchased the site with the
intent of redeveloping the now vacant
building into a multi-tenant office
building with an investment of $6.2
million and a focused marketing program.
Morgan Property Management, LLC, an
affiliate of Cofinance Inc., will be
providing property management services
and Cushman & Wakefield of New Jersey
will spearhead the leasing effort lead
by Joseph Sarno, its Executive Director.
CIBC, through its New York Office,
provided the financing for the
acquisition. The purchase price was
$14.7 million.
“200 Milik Street is a well-located
office building with convenient access
to the New Jersey Turnpike, significant
cash flow, a strong office sub-market
(Woodbridge/Edison), in an area
designated for redevelopment and access
to a significant workforce” stated Jim
Maurer, President of Cofinance Inc.
“The investment came together for us
once we worked out an arrangement with
Pathmark Stores, Inc., currently on a
lease through 2011, permitting Cofinance
to immediately begin its leasing effort
on what is now a vacant building. We can
now offer tenants creative and
competitive lease structures during a
period in a market that demands these
characteristics.” Maurer adds, “We are
also very fortunate to be entering our
second investment with RiverOak. Steve
DeNardo and George Yerrall, Managing
Directors of RiverOak, have shown great
confidence in us and we are confident
that 200 Milik Street will meet and
exceed our respective investment
expectations.”
Cofinance Inc. has completed
acquisitions during the past 36 months
in New York City, Northern New Jersey
and Sarasota County Florida totaling
$127 million. Despite the highly
competitive real estate market,
Cofinance Inc. in partnership with
sophisticated capital like RiverOak, has
been able to locate and control unique
opportunistic investments in highly
sought after markets.
Cofinance Inc. is an investor in and
developer of residential, office,
industrial, and retail projects
throughout the United States. Formed in
June of 1983, the strategy of Cofinance
Inc. has evolved into a broadly-based
entrepreneurial real estate investment
approach focused on identifying and
acquiring well-located properties that
are affected by non-real estate factors
and complex situations, define a focused
plan to resolve such factors and
situations, execute the plan and then
realize the value.
Jean-Claude Pick, the Chief Executive
Officer and founding principal of
Cofinance Inc., has been involved in
all aspects of real estate development,
investment, and operation throughout the
United States, France, England and
Holland. Mr. Pick is also President and
founder of Cofinance Group SA in
Luxembourg and its French subsidiary
Cofinance SA. The holdings of
Cofinance SA, include hotels, office
buildings, shopping centers, retirement
communities, and a full-service property
management company. Since their founding, Cofinance SA and Cofinance Inc. have been involved in projects with an aggregate value of over $2 billion.
Mr. Maurer joined Cofinance Inc. in
June of 2004. During his twenty
five-year career as a real estate
professional, Mr. Maurer has established
a reputation as a highly successful
developer of complex real estate
investments. Mr. Maurer is well-known in
the industry for his innovative
solutions and his development and
implementation of comprehensive business
plans and operating strategies.
The parent company of Cofinance Inc. is
CofiMorgan SA a wholly-owned subsidiary
of Cofinance Group. Cofinance Group is a
Luxembourg company owned by Jean Claude
Pick and a family trust managed by the
Maitland Group (“Maitland”). Maitland
was founded in 1976 as the overseas
advisor of major South African
international institutional investors
and has since developed into a
multi-national company, with offices in
London, Paris, Geneva, Isle of Man, and
Luxembourg. Maitland, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, manages and advises
on investments well in excess of $1
billion US.
Headquartered in Stamford, CT, RiverOak
Investment Corp., LLC is a real estate
investment fund sponsor that occupies a
vital and unique niche in the universe
of equity players. RiverOak insures a
competitive advantage for high-net-worth
investors by bringing institutional
experience to a traditionally
entrepreneurial model and employing
strategic targeting methodology.
RiverOak’s funds invest in gap equity
positions of $2 million to $5 million
per transaction in deals that are
typically sized in the $8 million to $50
million range. RiverOak’s projects are
all located in the Boston-to-Washington
corridor. “We specialize in
diversification and complex projects
requiring significant asset management
expertise where operating results and
cash flow can be significantly
improved,” said Stephen DeNardo,
Managing Director of RiverOak Investment
Corp., who along with managing director
George Yerrall, manage all aspects of
the Funds’ business.
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