Hyperion JV Buys Cliffside Park’s Centre for $165M

Hyperion Group has teamed up with a veteran New York real estate investor to buy a New Jersey rental building whose owners were struggling to refinance the CMBS loan.

HyperionMFP Partners, a joint venture between the New York- and South Florida-based investment and development firm and Lawrence Benenson of Benenson Capital Partners, snapped up The Centre, a 314-unit luxury rental building in Cliffside Park, New Jersey, for $165 million in an off-market deal.

“We were attracted to the property, and it was a good opportunity, given market conditions,” said Hyperion’s Rob Vecsler.

Completed in 2017, The Centre sits in the heart of Cliffside Park’s business district and has 50,000 square feet of retail. The seller, Arilex Realty, controlled by Arianne Schreer and Alexis Pizzurro — daughters of veteran Gold Coast developer James Demetrakis — financed the building with a $130 million CMBS loan after paying off a TPG Real Estate Finance bridge loan in 2017.

The property has maintained occupancy above 90 percent and generates cash flow stronger than initial underwriting expectations, with a debt service coverage ratio of 2.4, according to Morningstar. As of July, the building was 97 percent occupied, with an average rent of $3,200, per Trepp.

But when the CMBS debt matured in July 2024, Arilex was unable to refinance. A two-month forbearance expired in early September, and the loan’s special servicer began modification talks as higher interest rates squeezed valuations and lending terms.

A recent appraisal valued the property at $161.1 million, about 14 percent below its $188 million valuation when the mortgage was issued.

The sale effectively resolves the debt issue while giving the new venture a foothold in one of northern New Jersey’s strongest rental markets. Vecsler said it will target similar opportunities in the Tristate region and South Florida, where it sees opportunity for rent growth and asset appreciation.