The Capital Services Group for Ariel Property Advisors arranged a $5,250,000 construction loan for a 20-unit mixed-use development being built on the site of the former Tenafly Cinema located at 4.5-5 W Railroad Avenue.
Ariel’s Capital Services team, led by senior directors Matt Swerdlow and Matthew Dzbanek, arranged the non-recourse financing on behalf of the developer, Yoav Rettig of Bergen Pro Builders LLC. A non-recourse loan is any consumer or commercial debt secured only by collateral. In case of default, the lender may not seize any assets of the borrower beyond the collateral. A mortgage loan is typically a non-recourse loan.
Bergen Pro Builders acquired the historic Tenafly Cinema in 2020. First opened in 1926 as a film house, the Tenafly Cinema was once known as the New Bergen Theatre, with a small stage and a lobby. It became a Clearview Cinema in 1994 and in 2013, Bow-Tie Cinemas took it over. It was closed on March 16, 2020, because of the pandemic.
Going to the movie theater was a part of the normal routine of Americans, even after the advent of television and the introduction of DVDs and streaming services. However, the COVID-19 pandemic devastated the movie industry and the cinemas never recovered. The Tenafly theater is one of more than 3,000 cinemas nationwide that have shuttered since the pandemic. A survey from July 2022 showed that 20% of adults had no intention to return to theaters, and another 10% are unlikely to return.
The financing for the Tenafly property will be used to redevelop the property into a 20,000-square-foot mixed-use rental development featuring two retail units and 18 residential units of which three will be affordable.
The development will contribute to the Tenafly Downtown Revitalization Plan, a collaborative effort led by the town to make the area more attractive for residents, businesses and visitors.
The project will give tenants direct access to Midtown Manhattan via New Jersey Transit and feature 11-covered parking spots equipped with EV charging stations. There also is a proposed Northern Valley Greenway, which will span the distance from Tenafly to Northvale along the old Northern Branch Corridor rail line.
Swerdlow, a Bergen County native whose family came to northern New Jersey from the Bronx in 1974, said, “this project required an intimate knowledge of the market, comparable sales and the surrounding towns. I’m very pleased to arrange financing for a new development that will deliver much needed rental housing in a very high barrier to entry market.”
