The First Real Estate Investment Trust of New Jersey has been investing in commercial real estate since before the Beatles performed on The Ed Sullivan Show. While it far outlasted the Fab Four, the REIT is finally breaking up.
The board of directors of FREIT, which was incorporated in 1961, has unanimously approved a plan of voluntary liquidation, the company announced Thursday.
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Its current portfolio consists of six apartment complexes, five shopping centers and three parcels of vacant land in New Jersey. It also owns The Regency Club, a residential property in Middletown, New York.
The liquidation will involve selling off all of its assets. After paying off any liabilities, net proceeds will be returned to FREIT’s stockholders.
Payments are expected to range between $24.44 and $30.03 per share, a premium to its closing stock price of $15.25 on May 13, the day before the company announced its liquidation plans.
FREIT’s stock price soared following the announcement, reaching $23 per share on Friday morning. The surge was an increase of more than 50% year-over-year.
“For almost seventy years, FREIT has delivered consistent and attractive returns for investors,” FREIT CEO Robert Hekemian said in a statement. “We are proud of the Company’s legacy and look forward to punctuating it by returning capital to stockholders in a favorable real estate environment.”
In 2025, FREIT reported funds from operations — a standard measure of REIT performance — of $7M, or $0.94 per share, up from approximately $4.6M, or $0.61 per share, in 2024.
The company will hold a meeting of its stockholders in the fall to approve the liquidation plan. FREIT has tapped JLL as its financial adviser in the process.
FREIT is the latest publicly traded landlord deciding to sell and dissolve rather than reinvest in other properties.
Bethesda, Maryland-based Elme Communities announced in August a planned liquidation, but it has lowered its final payout estimates twice amid economic softness in the Washington, D.C., region. Stratus Properties, an Austin-based development REIT, announced its liquidation in March.
Many public real estate companies similarly claim that they are undervalued in today’s market. Others have been taken private or merged with competitors. At the same time, fewer companies are opting to pursue initial public offerings as private capital continues to sustain growth.
