Bergman Real Estate Group Acquires 121 Chanlon Road in New Providence

On Jan 12, 2015

Bergman Real Estate Group, a full-service real estate company of 25 years that owns and manages office properties throughout New Jersey, and its affiliated company, Garden State Office Properties, has acquired a 112,000-square-foot office building located at 121 Chanlon Road in New Providence, New Jersey, with a vehicle managed by Rialto Capital Management, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lennar Corporation. Steven Schultz of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented the seller, Reed Elsevier, Inc. in the transaction, while Bergman was represented by Michael Difede, Director of Acquisitions and Michael Brody, principal of Garden State Office Properties.

121 Chanlon Road is part of a two-building office complex known as the New Providence Business Campus, which has been owned and occupied by Reed Elsevier, Inc. and served as a corporate headquarters for Reed Elsevier’s LexisNexis and Martindale-Hubbell divisions. As part of a sale-leaseback transaction, Reed Elsevier consolidated into the two-story building, located at 630 Central Avenue, while at 121 Chanlon Road, Martindale LLC will continue to occupy a full floor of 35,000 square feet. Additionally, Bergman has announced a new full-floor lease with Phoenix Marketing Group.

The building is located one block from the Murray Hill Train Station, providing tenants with direct access to New York City via NJ Transit, and offers close highway access to I-78 (Exit 43), Route 24 and the Garden State Parkway. Adjacent to the property is the newly renovated Shoppes at New Providence, offering convenience to restaurants, a U.S. Post Office, the Central Farmers Market and the Fitness Factory Health Club. Other amenities in the area include the Murray Hill Health & Racquet Club and the Berkeley Heights Aquatic Center located across the street, the Best Western Murray Hill Inn & Suites one quarter of a mile from the property, and Summit Medical Group medical campus within two miles.

Built in 1990, 121 Chanlon is a four-story, class A office building featuring an architecturally attractive red brick façade and a dramatic, full-height center atrium with an arched glass ceiling.  The building provides first-quality interior finishes throughout, a full-service cafeteria, and executive covered parking under the building.  The building sits on 6.5 acres in a scenic, park-like setting with a walking trail and outdoor patio seating area.

“We are very excited about this new acquisition,” explains Michael Bergman, President of Bergman Real Estate Group. “This is a well-constructed, quality building that is brand new to the Summit/New Providence office market, within walking distance to the Murray Hill Train Station and nearby retail and fitness facilities.  We believe this provides an attractive opportunity to companies seeking a suburban, transit-oriented location with amenities for their employees.”

This purchase marks the second transaction in three months between Bergman and Rialto Capital. In August, the companies’ jointly acquired 100 Eagle Rock Avenue in East Hanover, New Jersey — a 90,000-square-foot office building.  Both transactions were financed with acquisition loans provided by M&T Bank, represented by Regional Manager Richard Steele and Vice President Mark Zurlini.

“Both of these acquisitions are consistent with our newly formed Garden State Office Properties’ business model, which is to buy well located, under-performing office buildings at an attractive basis with upside potential for value appreciation through the lease-up of the property,” stated Bergman. “Our newly formed relationship with Rialto has been a perfect fit for this program.”

As the building has been corporately owned for the past 25 years, Bergman is repositioning 121 Chanlon Road as a multi-tenant building. Currently, the building’s entire second floor totaling 35,000 square feet is available for lease and is divisible to 10,000 square feet. There are also smaller units of 2,000 square feet and 3,200 square feet available on the ground floor.  As part of this process, Bergman is planning to make significant capital improvements to the property, including a more prominent entrance, lobby upgrades with new lighting and furniture, and numerous other common area enhancements.  Bergman has engaged Studio 1200 to design these planned improvements.

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