Buyers Pull Out of Two New Jersey Shopping Center Sales Valued at $52 Million

A real estate investment trust's pending sales of two shopping centers in Bergen County, New Jersey, for $52.5 million have been scrapped because the prospective buyers pulled out of the deals.

First Real Estate Investment Trust of New Jersey, based in Hackensack, said the sales of both Franklin Crossing in Franklin Lakes, for $26.5 million, and Westwood Plaza in Westwood, for $26 million, have been terminated.

The REIT disclosed the end of the two separate deals in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. First Real Estate Investment didn't identify the prospective buyer in either of the transactions.

The REIT earlier this month saw another one of its pending sales fall through, for a multifamily property that was part of a portfolio New York City-based Kushner Cos. had been slated to acquire from it for $266.5 million. First Real Estate Investment reported that its mortgage lender for Pierre Towers, a 266-unit apartment complex at 185 Prospect Ave. in Hackensack, wouldn't agree to assign that loan to Kushner Cos. So the purchase agreement for that particular property, valued at $80.5 million, was canceled, bringing the portfolio's price tag down to $186 million.

Regarding Franklin Crossing, the REIT reported the would-be buyer prior to the end of a 21-day due diligence period "determined not to proceed with the purchase." That prospective purchaser's $500,000 deposit was returned.

In the Westwood Plaza sale, prior to the end of a 30-day due diligence period in that transaction, its suitor chose not to proceed with the purchase and got its $1 million deposit return.

The filings didn't say why the buyers declined to close on the sales, and First Real Estate Investment on Monday declined to comment beyond what was contained in the SEC documents.

Jared Kushner, the husband of President Trump's daughter Ivanka, once led Kushner Cos., which was founded by his father, Charles Kushner. But the younger Kushner stepped down from his role at the family company after he became a key adviser to the president. He is no longer involved in its daily operations.

In January, when First Real Estate Investment announced the pending portfolio sale to Kushner Cos., the REIT said it planned to wind down and proceed with a voluntary liquidation after that transaction closed.
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