Construction financing & JV equity arranged for luxury apartment community in Watchung, New Jersey

MORRISTOWN, N.J., Aug. 8, 2025 – JLL Capital Markets announced today that it has secured a construction loan and joint venture equity for Blue Hill at Watchung, a 230-unit, Class A luxury apartment community to be developed in Watchung, Somerset County, New Jersey.

JLL represented the sponsor team, The Sterling Properties Group and Danbro Properties, in arranging the loan through First Citizens Bank. JLL also arranged the sponsor’s joint venture equity partnership with Marcus Partners.

Scheduled for completion in 2026, Blue Hill at Watchung will feature six high-quality, four-story buildings and a two-story clubhouse on a picturesque 41.8-acre site with 23 acres of preserved land. The community will include 184 market-rate units and 46 affordable-rate units, with an average market-rate unit size of 1,141 square feet. The property will offer best-in-class amenities including a resort-style pool, outdoor lounge areas, fitness center, private dining room, billiards room, golf simulator, game room, co-working space and private garages.

Located on Bonnie Burn Rd. in Watchung, the property offers exceptional access to major highways including I-78 and Rte-22, providing easy commutes to major employment centers throughout Central and Northern New Jersey, as well as New York City. The site is less than a mile from The Peak, a 1.5-million-square-foot Class A office park home to major corporate facilities for Fiserv, L'Oréal, Celgene and others.

Watchung is an affluent suburban community with an average household income of $200,643 and median home asking prices exceeding $1.2 million. The property benefits from a 30-year PILOT agreement with the Borough of Watchung.

JLL Capital Market’s team was led by Senior Managing Directors Jim Cadranell and Jon Mikula, along with Vice President Michael Lachs.

"Blue Hill at Watchung represents an exceptional opportunity to develop a market-leading luxury apartment community in one of New Jersey's most prestigious locations," said Cadranell. "The strong sponsorship team, premier location with significant barriers to entry and comprehensive amenity package positioned this project for success in the capital markets."

Total project cost is $102.87 million. The property is projected to achieve stabilization by March 2028.

JLL Capital Markets is a full-service global provider of capital solutions for real estate investors and occupiers. The firm's in-depth local market and global investor knowledge delivers the best-in-class solutions for clients — whether investment sales and advisory, debt advisory, equity advisory or a recapitalization. The firm has more than 3,000 Capital Markets specialists worldwide with offices in nearly 50 countries.

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Sterling Properties is a premier real estate developer and property management firm with over 30 years of experience, specializing in ground-up construction of rental residences, upscale single-family homes, townhomes and commercial properties across the New York tri-state area and beyond. Based in Livingston, New Jersey, the Sterling is committed to delivering high-quality developments in prime locations with meticulous planning and attention to detail, creating superior residences built to last.

Danbro Properties is a New Jersey-based real estate development firm specializing in sustainable, high-quality, well-located projects in the tri-state area. With a focus on transforming underutilized properties, Danbro creates vibrant communities that deliver lasting values to all stakeholders. With more than 1,000 units in the development pipeline, Danbro is poised to continue to set the standard of Redevelopment in the tri-state area. For more information, please visit www. DanbroProperties.com.

Marcus Partners is a vertically integrated real estate firm with a team boasting a 30-plus year history of successful investment, management and development, headquartered in Boston with regional offices in Metro New York and the Mid-Atlantic. The firm specializes in strategic and opportunistic investment strategies across industrial, multifamily and other property types where it can create value and maximize risk-adjusted returns, currently owning, controlling, operating or developing over 7 million square feet of real estate and more than 3,200 multifamily units.

First Citizens Bank helps personal, business, commercial and wealth clients build financial strength that lasts. Headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., First Citizens has built a unique legacy of strength, stability and long-term thinking that has spanned generations. First Citizens offers an array of general banking services including a network of branches and offices nationwide; commercial banking expertise delivering best-in-class lending, leasing and other financial services coast to coast; innovation banking serving businesses at every stage; and a nationwide direct bank. Parent company First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ: FCNCA) is a top 20 U.S. financial institution with more than $200 billion in assets and a member of the Fortune 500™. Discover more at firstcitizens.com.