C&W Brokers $120M Trade of The Meadows Office Complex in Rutherford

On Oct 9, 2015

Cushman & Wakefield’s Metropolitan Area Capital Markets Group has brokered the $120-million sale of The Meadows Office Complex  in Rutherford. The 600,000-square-foot, two-building office complex traded from a joint venture of Onyx Equities and SL Green to a private investor.

According to Cushman & Wakefield’s David Bernhaut, the level of investor interest in the offering reflects strong demand at a transformational time for the New Jersey Meadowlands market. He headed the assignment with team members Andrew Merin, Gary Gabriel, Brian Whitmer and Kyle Schmidt. “We are seeing an unprecedented level of investment throughout the region – billions of public and private capital invested in residential and retail development, infrastructure, mass transit, and entertainment,” Bernhaut noted.

“The 2.9 million-square-foot American Dream Mall is back on track, representing the largest retail development project in North America and promising 10,000 permanent jobs and 50 million visitors per year,” according to Merin. “A joint venture between Seton Hall and Hackensack University Medical Center will anchor the repositioning of the 116-acre former Roche pharmaceutical headquarters on Route 3 into New Jersey’s first medical school. There has been a significant amount of new residential development in the Meadowlands. In fact, The Meadows sits adjacent to the proposed Highland Cross mixed-use development site, which will include residential, retail and hotel. All of this momentum is propelling the regional office market.”

Within this context, The Meadows – located at 201/301 Route 17 North at the intersections of Route 3 and the NJ Turnpike – is one of Northern New Jersey’s few high-rise office towers outside of the Hudson Waterfront and the Newark CBD. The fully amenitized, institutional-quality property is nearly 90 percent leased, with tenants including MALO, Sony Music Entertainment, SGS North America and Shiseido Americas, among others.

The Meadows sits on an 8.8-acre site with a 4/1,000 parking ratio, 400-person cafeteria, conference center, onsite fitness and daycare centers, and unobstructed views of the Manhattan skyline. The property was built in 1981 and extensively renovated in 2006 and again in 2014, when over $4.5 million was spent to improve lobbies, elevators, restrooms, both facades, the parking deck and other common areas.

“The purchaser secured one of the highest-quality assets in the Meadowlands market at a good basis, at a time when market fundamentals are improving,” Gabriel said. “These buildings are eight miles from Manhattan and within a 45-minute drive of 12.5 million people. As rents in the city and along the Hudson Waterfront continue to increase, the Meadowlands remains a relative value. And with the completion of Secaucus Junction station we have seen a distinct shift to the type of 24/7, mass transit-focused community desired by today’s employers and employees.

 

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