Elizabeth, N.J.,  – In a transaction arranged by Gebroe-Hammer Associates, New York City-based developers GZL Real Estate and The Chars Group have acquired a one-acre parcel at 655 Pennsylvania Ave., in Elizabeth, N.J. Executive Vice President Stephen Tragash exclusively represented the seller and arranged the $2.9M sale on behalf of the collaborative partnership.

Acquired as a strategic investment for future development, the Elizabeth property marks GZL Real Estate and The Chars Group’s initial entry into Union County and the joint venture’s tenth acquisition in New Jersey. In addition to Elizabeth, portfolio properties are located throughout the North Jersey strongholds of Hudson, Essex and Passaic. The 655 Pennsylvania Ave. property is approximately 10,000SF and currently occupied by an office, showroom and 100-space parking lot for Preferred Auto Sales, a pre-owned auto dealership.

“Since 2020, GZL and Chars have been expanding their portfolio holdings to include assets throughout the North Jersey Metro, thanks to the market’s strong fundamentals and positioning as an extension of New York City as well as its extensive highway and transit network,” said Tragash, a member of Gebroe-Hammer’s North Jersey Metro team. “The buyer plans to maintain the cash-producing site as-is for the foreseeable future, with the possibility of future development.”

Situated across the street from NJ Transit’s Elizabeth North Station, offering 28-minute rail service to New York City via Newark Airport, Newark Penn, Secaucus Junction and New York Penn stations, 655 Pennsylvania Ave. is at the heart of Elizabeth’s Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ). The avenue also runs parallel to Newark Avenue (Route 27), a major arterial roadway connecting North Broad Street and Frelinghuysen Avenue, and offers 2-mile proximity to Newark Airport, Port Elizabeth, the Goethals Bridge and The Mills at Jersey Gardens, New Jersey’s largest outlet and value retail center with 200+ stores.

“Northern New Jersey is an important hub of New York City, which has been the catalyst for our expansion within this market,” said GZL Real Estate’s Benjamin Katz. “Given the market’s strategic location, the third-largest population density in the U.S. and long-term fundamentals that are propping up the market, we are pleased to expand our holdings to include the 655 Pennsylvania Avenue investment property.”

Katz also noted, “Elizabeth is one of Northern New Jersey’s primary cities on the rise and we are grateful to Steve, who has earned the title of go-to broker-of-choice here, for bringing this opportunity to us.”

Since 1975, Gebroe-Hammer’s brokerage activities have concentrated on suburban and urban high-rise and garden-apartment properties. While initially focusing on New Jersey, the firm has evolved during the past 48 years to also dominate the northeastern Pennsylvania and New York State submarkets as well as represent client interests nationally. Gebroe-Hammer also markets mixed-use and free-standing office and retail properties. Widely recognized for its consistent sales performance, the firm is consistently named a CoStar Power Broker for almost 20 years and has been named a national Multifamily Influencer for four of the past five years.

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